Cloned Tiberium: Tiberian Dusk
by Luke Danger
Summary: Sequel to Cloned Tiberium. The year is 2062 and Earth is now doomed to Tiberian death. But suddenly, hope was renewed with the Tiberium Control Network, created by Kane. Now, as a Tiberium Dusk occurs, we continue the story; and Twilight will soon follow.
1. Chapter 1: Black Dawn

**Firestorm Uplink Successful**

**Welcome back, Commander**

**Today's Threat Level is:**

**Critical**

_**The planet has deteriorated, Tiberium infestation has entered a new age, at the cost of humanity. Sonic technology has failed against this new evolution of Tiberium, and humanity is near extinction.**_

Pictures and reconnaissance shots of sonic emitters failing to hold Tiberium were shown, and Tiberium steadily overwhelming the world, like a green plague.

_**Firestorm Defenses were the only protection, but even then it could not stop Tiberium outbreak. The remaining eight cities, now called Colonies, are all that is left of proper humanity, though unsubstantiated reports of non-mutant and non-Nod towns within the Red Zones are claimed to exist.**_

Eight blue blips with the GDI logo appeared on a blood-red hologram of the world, the blips located at Manchester, UK; Tokyo, Japan; Paris, France; New York City, USA; Mount Cheyenne, Canada; Hammerfest, Norway; Madagascar, South Africa; and Buenos Ares, Argentina.

_**Despite the alliances of the past, the large influx of both mutants and dead has left the Forgotten splintered, only several of the new mutant 'Clans' having chosen to remain loyal to the Forgotten. Many clans have bitterly begun carving out their own nation states, often along old boundaries before GDI, while others have worked towards building somewhat stable states, but reject GDI aid. Many have banded together to raid the surviving Colonies, forcing GDI to keep the army at prominence, stripping away critical funding and manpower from countering Tiberium. Unfortunately, the cost of a Tiberium stricken world does not affect them as it does the rest of humanity, for they seem to be able to sustain themselves now when near Tiberium, replacing the need to eat or drink.**_

Footage from some of the brutal urban combat as different mutant clans fought each other was shown as that was said, even GDI fighting to hold the line against hordes of raiding mutants. A Mammoth Tank was shown exploding inside out as two dozen rockets slammed into its low viewport.

_**The Brotherhood of Nod has faded, only to resurface just today in the form of Kane, with the Tacitus. He has made a daring proposition, a Tiberium Control Network, to save the planet from Tiberium outbreak and return it to its former glory, thusly, a desperate, unlikely, and unholy alliance has been formed between GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod.**_

A picture of the Tacitus was shown, a glowing white sphere of data, unknown formulas bouncing around inside of it. On the top left, the GDI symbol, which was a golden, stylized bird of prey; and on the bottom right, the Nod symbol, which was a black scorpion's tail in a red triangle bordered with black. The GDI and Nod symbol merged and flashed into the light of the Tacitus.

_**The Firestorm Taskforce is now to shift all focus towards protecting humanity's last hope, the Tiberium Control Network, and to stop any rogue Nod or Tiberium-based forces from destroying the prototype and thus dooming the project to oblivion. If the initial prototype of the project fails or is destroyed, it will be the same for our last hope. It must be defended at all costs. All of humanity is at stake and watching.**_

Pictures of the Firestorm Taskforce's arsenal, a Zone Trooper, a Titian, a Shatterer, a Juggernaut, a component tower with a Vulcan Chain gun, an Orca VTOL, and a Mammoth Tank, all flashed by as EVA recited the end of the briefing.

The briefing ended, and the Firestorm Taskforce's symbol was shown: A stylized eagle, flying upwards, head held back, almost like a spear tip. It's torso a GDI gold colored shield. Coming upwards from below the eagle was fire, like a laurel reef in shape and appearance. From below, blending into and with the eagle's tail, was an off-silver lightsaber hilt, and from behind, a silver bladed lightsaber shooting up, coming out from behind the eagle's head.

**Chapter One: Black Dawn**

**June 24****th****, 2062**

**Manchester, UK**

**Zone N/A, all Red Zones.**

Ahsoka Tano sighed as she watched the briefing end. She was once (officially) a Jedi, but now a GDI Commander, leading its anti-Scrin/extraterrestrial elite division, the _Firestorm Taskforce_, reformed one last time to become GDI's premier defense against otherworldly threats. On the side of the EVA unit's screen, in a hologram, Ajay, the former Nod agent turned GDI InOps, assigned directly to the Firestorm Taskforce as her intelligence officer, appeared.

"Commander," Ajay said, nodding. His old uniform had been redyed to GDI combat green with dark blue underneath, and he had added some minor armor to the torso to give him a bit of added protection, a GDI eagle symbol stamped on small shoulder guards that were also added, for both aesthetic and protective purposes. A GD-3, the next generation GDI Rifle, was hung on the side of his operation room.

"Ajay, good to know Kane didn't get some revenge while he was here." Ahsoka responded, nodding back to him. Over the last decade, the two had become surprisingly close, but unlike the relationship between Rex and his now-deceased wife, Sarah Granger, it was not love, but mutual respect and camaraderie. Both had been subjects of Nod manipulation, in one way or another. It was Ahsoka who asked him to come to GDI after he had deserted the Brotherhood of Nod when she met him in the Australian Outback, en route to assist the Forgotten, the main mutant organization that had done it's best to help GDI even as Tiberium overran the world, in recovering a single Tiberium crystal with powerful properties. The orange crystal was now powering Ahsoka's lightsaber. Ajay was also, because of his unexpected trustworthiness, privy to Ahsoka's true origins, whereas most of the world who knew of her believed her to simply be a 'heavily mutated' human, suffering from a 'weird strain' of Tiberium radiation. He took it surprisingly well when he was told, and had worked out a lot of it for himself, but kept quiet about it. She appreciated his discretion on the matter.

"Actually," Ajay said, "He came in, said he was disappointed, but said that he would not seek revenge as I 'found a different purpose.' I'm still barricading my door though."

"Just make sure you have a fast escape, just in case. Alright, what's the situation? I only just got back from a patrol, another twenty-three confirmed dead."

Ajay gave a grave nod. Humanity was getting so scarce now that it's numbers were under two million… it was to the point where GDI was about to kick all women out of the military and keep them all locked up safe in whatever they could muster and have them focusing on reproduction. However, Rex had pointed out that by same logic, they should lock all the men up too, as they were two halves of the whole. The compromise was that all women within the military were talked to by their superior officers and, as Rex insisted, given an argument of logic, and strictly logic. Only maybe a dozen women left GDI wholly in response, but a good number of others compromised as well, transferring to less hazardous duties such as supply or even started learning non-combat skills such as engineering or medicine. And some flatly refused of course, as was their right, and focused on their work and trying to rescue those trapped outside or trying to keep Tiberium back.

"Here's the gist," Ajay began, "the Firestorm Taskforce, due to our major presence in the city, are going to be defending the beginning of the Tiberium Control Network construction. Manchester is the test case, it's the worst off Colony, and if it gets all restored, then we know we've gained an upper hand and prove we _can_ beat Tiberium. Our jamming of Scrin warp holes has worked for now, hell; we think it's all that's kept them from invading. Brighter side, I got a new toy for the Firestorm Taskforce, fresh from the eggheads. I'll send Fullerton over later, he's using the prototype."

Ahsoka nodded, "What do we have?"

"Twenty Titians, twenty-six Wolverines, fifty Zone Troopers, twenty Zone Raiders, and any other GDI units in the area." Ajay answered, "We're pulling in all our other operations to make sure this goes as planned, Kane reported that a prominent Black Hand priest named Gideon is leading an anti-Kane movement within Nod because of the GDI/Nod Alliance, and they're bearing down on us to try and end it here. We obviously got the local GDI units as well as the Mammoth Mark 2.5 that Mitchell brought with him, but we have to be aware of any more Nod seppies."

"Good thing we all got some Zone Armor now," Ahsoka said, "We'll need it, just to walk out to the TCN site, and well, knowing Mitchell, he'll drive the Mammoth out there himself."

"That's what he's planning on. Head down to the hanger bay, we're gonna get you into a Harrier and drop you at the site."

"I'm on my way." Ahsoka got up, and Ajay transferred to her wrist EVA.

"Captain McCarthy and Stevenson are already setting up the initial construction, Kane introduced an anti-Tiberium antigen, for lack of a better term, to let the construction commence. Our last MARV has been outfitted with it so we can 'harvest' the Tib much faster… actually, it'd be more accurate to say 'devour', and the MARV is the only vehicle that can carry the equipment. You're mission is to protect the MARV as it devours that Tiberium, and once that's done, we can get the construction going. We expect that those who'd rather not see the TCN built will hit us as soon as possible. The first stage should only take an hour as all they have to do is drive that sucker over the Tiberium. Once the construction starts, MCV assistance will be unavailable as we're putting everything we got into the first TCN. We have to assemble it manually, but the parts we can easily produce using the MCVs. Once that's done, hold the line until the first TCN node is complete and activated."

Ahsoka walked into the last GDI vehicle hanger as Ajay finished. Firehawks, retrofitted with expanded ammo capacity, improved engines, machine guns and ejection seats were being armed and readied. Harrier Gunships were being loaded up with Zone Troopers and Raiders, as well as armored units such as Titian walkers or supplies for the soldiers in the field. As Ahsoka walked onto a Harrier and grabbed the roof rail, one of the Troopers nodded. "Commander."

"Sergeant." She nodded back, "Alright boys, let's go. Pilot, get us out there."

They took off from the hanger, and flew out into the stricken Tiberium hell that was once beautiful green pastures, a flowing blue river, and a bustling city full of life.

"What the- are those guys some sort of special unit or something? I've never seen that symbol before…" said someone on the GDI ground.

"I dunno Dirk," responded the Commando, Conrad, who knew quite well what the Firestorm Taskforce was, he was part of it, but an undercover part, "But I've been told that those guys are _mean_. Should be considered lucky they're in GDI and not Nod."

"Heh, probably a regiment specific unit insignia. Still, it's an interesting one."

"What ever," Conrad dismissed, "we got a job to do. Come on, this is for humanity!"

An hour passed and TCN construction began, the area cleared by the MARV, which was now securing other areas and on hand in the event Tiberium grew back somewhere. A battalion of Black Hand forces had then arrived.

"This is the Enlightened Cult of Gideon, the _true_ power of the Brotherhood," said the Black Hand leader, "Surrender the traitor Kane to us!"

"Sorry buddy, but you don't just walk into GDI territory with an army and expect to get what you want!" Mitchell responded via the communications. He was coming in on the Mammoth Mark 2.5, the same one he had used at Mount Cheyenne, which was the same one that had been used at Ground Zero… the only of its kind. Coming up from behind was the full GDI arsenal, everything that could be mustered. GDI was striking back, and they were going to live up to their name that day.

The Black Hand forces advanced, Flame Tanks taking point. Rockets and Rail Guns opened fire, blasting the tanks as they advanced. One of them got close enough to burn Ahsoka alive with the dual flame thrower, but a heavy soldier with an overly-large jump jet on his back came flying down, a flame thrower of his own in hand. He opened fire… and instead of fire, an organic, flowing bright orange beam flew out…

Ajay appeared on Ahsoka's wrist EVA, smiling, "Meet the Firestorm Trooper. Heavily armored, capable of withstand direct Tiberium radiation and a direct hit from several Rail Guns at once, and armed with one of the meanest weapons created by Mobius and Tatsu, the Firestorm Decimator. He also happens to be fireproof from the armor."

The orange beam hit the last Flame Tank, and it exploded spectacularly as the beam cut through its flame volatiles, but while Ahsoka had to get out of the way of the flames, the Firestorm Trooper took it effortlessly.

"The Firestorm Trooper can cut into anything with ease, can't blow stuff up like a normal Firestorm Defense, but it does the job. According to our R&D, it's the first of a series of Firestorm technology coming up for us."

"Looks impressive," Ahsoka said as a dozen Black Hand Disciples collapsed, their bodies severed in half and burning from the inside out as the Firestorm Trooper, Fullerton, cut through them. She leapt forward in the middle of a squad of Black Hand Disciples, and she activated the lightsaber. Cutting through the Black Hand infantry like they were nothing, she left a swathe of dead bodies behind her as no mercy was asked for… and thus none given, the bodies vanishing into dust as Tiberium radiation in the air decomposed them near instantly. Other Firestorm Taskforce infantry, all in Zone Armor, or, in the case of snipers and grenadiers, ZOCOM Tiberium Field Suits, were coming up, blasting the enemy at point blank and shooting through the battlefield, blunting and destroying all signs of the Black Hand offensive. No one would now doubt the truth: The Firestorm Taskforce was _the_ elite force of GDI.

"Cyborgs incoming!" shouted one of the GDI Zone Troopers, "Lock and load!"

"Hold!" came another voice… Kane's voice. "They are not the enemy. They are the _**Marked of Kane**_. They will defend the TCN with not only their last breathes, but their very existence."

"God damn it," one of the Zone Raiders said, "One of them looks like a Raider! Poor girl."

"Won't be surprised," commented McCarthy, who was leading a Zone Trooper squad, "They use anything that's convertible… God, we're working with _cyborgs_ now…"

"Cut the personal chatter," Ahsoka chimed in, "Vertigo's incoming, I want anti-air up here now!"

The five Vertigo Bombers, their stealth capabilities removed by concealed Orca sensor pods, came in arrowhead formation, suddenly; a hailstorm of bullets flew up and ripped them apart. One of the Firestorm Taskforce's advanced Quad-Anti-Aircraft Batteries had come online.

The battle ended as the last few Black Hand soldiers retreated, but were cut down by strafing runs from the on-site Firehawks.

"Excellent work," Rex said via radio, "Alright, get the wounded to shelter. Kane, the Marked have perimeter duty, but get any damaged cyborgs in for repair…" the last few words sounded like it had taken all of Rex's will to avoid snarling them.

"Very well. They are ever-alert, do not fear, Director."

XXXXX

**The Next Day**

**June 25****th****, 2062**

**Manchester, UK**

The first TCN node was almost complete. Ahsoka had slept in a surprisingly comfortable cockpit; she had switched to flying with a squadron of Firehawks due to increased enemy air. All GDI soldiers were to sleep on-station and be ready to go at a moments notice.

She was awake, she had watch that hour. Suddenly something beeped on the radar.

"Angels, time to wake up." Ahsoka said, activating the Firehawk again. "We got bogies on the HUD."

One by one, the other Firehawks activated and went through weapon checks.

"Commander," Ajay said, appearing on the side of the Firehawk's HUD. "We got another group of ECG," he coughed into his hand, "I mean, the so-called 'Enlightened Cult of Gideon' or Nod Separatists if you ask Kane… anyways, they're incoming. They've got a lot of Purifier Warmechs. I know those things belong in the dumpster but they're still dangerous. TCN construction is 90% complete. This is a last ditch attempt to off us. Lock and load."

"You heard 'im Angels," Ahsoka said, activating the engines and taking to the skies, "Let's get over there!"

The squadron flew in and began strafing runs on the Purifier Warmechs. Then a squadron of Venom VTOLs came in. Ahsoka pulled up and flew towards them, firing the two rockets and the auto cannons. She shredded the first three in a pass, the other two Venom then turned around to hunt her down.

The other Firehawk pilots took the hint, and flew in, gunning the surprised Venom pilots down to Earth in heaps of screaming metal. The Mammoth Mark 2.5 opened fire on the Purifiers well outside their range, blasting them down. Orca squadrons flew in and bombed them with rockets. The Firehawk squadron then bombed the warmechs with their firebombs, setting off the Purifiers' fuel tanks in great balls of fire. The attack was done… or so they thought. Despite this however, the Venom managed to get several shots at Ahsoka before going down, and only just now her engines showed how much damage had been done… she was going down now too.

"Firestorm Lead going down to total engine failure, ejecting!" Ahsoka shouted, punching the retrofitted eject button and found herself being launched out of the Firehawk as it came crashing down, and began free falling… the ejection chair's bottom jets had failed, and she was down to her own skills to survive the fall from at least a few thousand feet.

But Ahsoka was a Jedi, and lethal falls were not difficult to survive… if they were awake. And awake she was. She let the chair fall down to earth, removing the straps so it could, and it landed on top of a Black Hand Disciple, crushing him by sheer kinetic force.

As she came close to the ground, she focused, calling upon the Force and using it to buffer her landing, with a light thud she landed, pulling her lightsaber form her belt and returning to the GDI lines, cutting through several Black Hand soldiers and a Scorpion Tank, which she took care of by leaping onto it and cutting the driver in half.

"**Subterranean units detected!"** shouted Ahsoka's new wrist EVA unit, one of the first of the new Japanese model. Its voice was a bit annoying at times, but it was twice as effective as the old EVA units.

"What the …" Ahsoka asked, checking her radar display… and sure enough, there were several Subterranean APCs coming in.

"Keep alert, you got burrowers coming in!" Ahsoka warned. Suddenly, the APCs emerged from below the ground, and Black Hand soldiers rushed out, spraying fire all over the place. Another wave of Venom aircraft escorting Vertigo bombers flew in as well: It was _the_ last ditch assault.

A bloody battle ensued, GDI's superior armor put to the test as the Black Hand came in with superior numbers. But the Marked of Kane proved invaluable to the defense, their cybernetic forces withstanding the Black Hand and repelling them. The enemy began to falter as Steel Talon Titians and ZOCOM Zone Shatterers ripped apart squads of infantry and even old, Second Tiberium War Devil's Tongue Subterranean Flame Tanks.

At sunset… the battle was over, and the first TCN Node was complete…

"To all, get to the safety of the earth. The pulse from the Tiberium Control Network may disrupt our electronics." Warned Kane; and GDI officers began spreading the to their units, pointing out that at that point, they should anyways.

The TCN began to power up so it could begin removing Tiberium from Manchester and converting it into what Ahsoka would later learn to be energy, storable in infinite amounts in ways much akin to the Scrin's method of storing Tiberium, and be convertible back into a liquid or solid form for use in GDI factories. The Brotherhood, once more exceeding GDI in Tiberium research, had actually took the time to capture and examine a number of Scrin refineries, or 'Extractors' as they were called by the Scrin. Several other nodes were already under construction… but it was clear. Humanity had won its first victory in ten years against Tiberium… but the casualties literally look a sixteenth of humanity's remaining population out of the equation… or would have, had the many Nod survivors been unknown to most of the world… in reality, with the Brotherhood back, rogue or no, humanity's population doubled.

"This victory," Ahsoka said to herself as the sun set, "Will long be remembered."

As if on cue, she could hear the cheers of GDI soldiers as the first TCN node powered up, shooting a white glow into the sky and a massive pulse, putting all their hair on end as if struck by a powerful wind and causing disruption for all electronic systems, not enough to compromise them, but enough to surprise them.

XXXXX

**One Hour Later**

**Hanger Bay**

**GDI Admin Building**

**Manchester, UK**

Ahsoka walked off of the Harrier. GDI soldiers already had beer bottles out, and were drinking and sharing toasts. Morale was soaring as humanity's first victory in years was won.

"Commander," Ajay said via wrist EVA, "GDI council wants ta see ya. Guess the Taskforce impressed 'em enough. If they ask who operated their superior EVA unit, mention me, would ya?"

"**I resent the implication that I require constant maintenance, Lieutenant Ajay."** EVA coldly responded.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, smiling, "Hey, any credit to the Taskforce is credit to its members."

Ajay shrugged with a grin on his face, "Worth a shot."

After walking through numerous corridors and down a flight of stairs, Ahsoka pushed the main door open after showing her ID to the Zone Trooper on guard duty. As she entered, she saw not only the GDI council, but the Nod inner circle… including LEGION, in the form of a wrist EVA laid out in front of Kane and as a hologram of a 'cut and paste man', or a human in a specific uniform with few specific bodily features such as hair or color, barring the Nod insignia.

Ahsoka looked around, all the GDI Generals, or equivalents, were present. General Granger, in charge of New York's defense and operations in its sphere, McNeil, in charge of Madagascar's defense, General Mitchell of the Steel Talons, protecting Hammerfest. Then General Locke, ZOCOM, whom protected Paris, General Wesley Riggs, veteran of the Second and Third Tiberium Wars as a Sergeant and then a Commander respectively, who protected the city built at Mount Cheyenne, replacing the ZOCOM base there. General Nagama, an older, respected, and hardened Japanese man whom was a follower of the ancient Japanese warrior-tradition/honor code known as _Bushido_, happening to be the General in charge of protecting Tokyo. And finally, Colonel Louise James, a front-line veteran of the Third Tiberium war and daughter of a First Tiberium War hero, who was in charge of protecting Buenos Aires in South America, but was technically only an aide to General Mitchell, whereas Ahsoka was in a similar situation, also under Mitchell publically. _Of course, I'm the one who's nominally in charge of protecting Manchester,_ Ahsoka realized, _so I'm basically with this elite group of leaders as a almost equal. Not that I really want it, but hey, you do what you have to do._

Kane nodded, "Now we can begin."

Early on, it seemed like Ahsoka was called up redundantly, occasionally someone asked her a question on the Firestorm Taskforce's capabilities as the talks of specifying what the Alliance would be, but most of the time they left her alone, as well as most of the GDI Generals besides the division leaders… Colonel James was pretty harsh, often pointing out Kane and Nod's many crimes… Riggs however, almost as if he distasted conflict and wanted to end the GDI/Nod war for good (which wouldn't be a bad thing, barring a couple things), silenced her with his senior rank, but not without getting disapproving glares from McNeil, Mitchell, and General Granger, all of whom had lost someone they held dear because of Nod. In McNeil's case, his only love, a Forgotten mutant named Umagon, who died because of a failed anti-Tiberium mutation cure after being accelerated by Kane's 'Divination' project, and just as they realized their romantic relationship. Mitchell lost a lot of friends in the years between the Second and Third wars, including, according to scuttlebutt, two of his cousins who were Titian Jockeys of the Steel Talons. And General Granger… he lost his daughter in Kane's assault on the Mount Cheyenne facility, and that wound was the most open of them all.

In the center of the room, a Zone Trooper appeared in a hologram, and saluted. "Director, there's a… Nod woman is seems who's requesting entrance, saying Kane requested her presence… she's in a full cloak, so I can't tell her ID, but it looks like armor, a cyborg maybe… she refused to take the cloak off, so I can't tell beyond the tan colored gauntlets with a faded silver symbol I couldn't make out."

Kane gave a grave nod, "Let her in, please, she is a... mutual acquaintance."

Rex gave a reluctant nod to the Trooper, and the hologram disappeared. Colonel James gave Rex a scowl. Ahsoka could sense easily that she was wondering why Rex let Kane invite someone into the Council Room, especially without proper ID and only the word of Kane to authorize such.

The door opened, and the two Zone Troopers came in (another two taking guard duty outside), and escorted the new guest in. The two Troopers were also holding Rail Guns to the woman's back, and she had two hands in the air and clear… and the hands were clad in battered gauntlets… Zone Raider gauntlets…

"Please, reveal yourself," Kane said to the woman with a, modicum, of gentlemanliness, "Let the good Director see who I have invited, albeit rudely, to his proverbial, and perhaps literal, table"

Ahsoka sensed something then… something… familiar, the battered armor almost bringing her full attention… It was like someone she knew a long time ago… who had changed… _Oh no… you gotta be stanging kidding me…_

The woman took the hood off… the rest of the cloak came off, revealing… the Zone Raider cyborg, helmet on, that had been mentioned earlier… she then took the helmet off….

A pin dropping could have been heard, if not for the low whine of the Zone Armor and the TCN outside. Shocked faces on part of the GDI Council, and not-so-shocked faces on part of Nod's Inner Circle, though some looked a bit… distasteful.

"It… it… it can't be!" Rex stuttered, taking steps backwards, or trying to, falling back out of his chair and standing straight up, stumbling back…. "It's not true…" he almost shouted to himself as he stumbled backed, "That's… that's _impossible!_ I _saw you fall!_"

"I apologize, Director Rex," Kane said sadly, lowering his head, "But I could not in good faith have an alliance with such a secret kept. She is, after all, your _wife_, and me keeping her hidden from you within my ranks would be a poor way to start an Alliance that you would be co-heading with me."

Ahsoka swore she felt her heart stop beating… it should have been _impossible_, she had _died_, bullet through the heart in addition to numerous wounds that easily could have been fatal when added up… but Ahsoka could not deny it… she was seeing and sensing the proof, dead in front of her, and her eyes were not deceiving her.

Sarah Granger was alive.

But Ahsoka felt something different… _It's like the last decade… who am I kidding, a decade of being like a ghost would change anyone, Jedi, soldier, pilot, engineer, fanatic… anyone._

General Jack Granger, Sarah's father, looked like he was about to have a heart attack… in fact, his hands were shaking as he stared at Kane… disbelief, shock, and sadness all mixed together as he tried to find the right emotion for it.

All was silent for another ten minutes… finally, General Wesley Riggs broke the silence, and said, "It's good to know you're alive, Captain Granger. GDI has missed you."

"Captain no more," Sarah, sounding like this was as painful to her as it was to her father and Rex, "I don't think I keep the rank after getting… reanimated as a cyborg."

Ahsoka then realized what happened: They had never recovered her body. Most thought Kane, or some other Nod soldier, deciding to be cruel, dumped the body in a field of Tiberium just to spite GDI and pour salt on Rex's wounds. But Ahsoka realized it now: Kane had taken her body and returned _life_ to her, but she was now contained in her armor, whatever wounds that brought her to death must have been fixed with cybernetics… Ahsoka could sense, roughly, that most of Sarah's body was still there, but her veins, especially towards her heart and a good amount inside of it, had been replaced with metal… and she was wired directly into the Zone Armor, the only thing that she likely would be able to remove would be her helmet and perhaps the armor plating itself, allowing for the armor to be upgraded… but the core of the suit was to stay on hell or high water. Ahsoka shivered as she wondered how such would feel… _The thought of having metal lacing through your body… that… is seriously not something I can consider…_

Rex looked like he had just been devastated… Ahsoka knew why. He had made peace with Sarah's death, and let the wound lay closed, working towards ensuring that her death wasn't in vain… he had lost so many brothers in war, Sarah was almost like another tally, and Rex had finally accepted she was just _gone_, never to return.

Ahsoka decided that Kane must of expected such, and, in a albeit twisted sense, meant to return a live Sarah back to Rex as a token of good will… but all he had done was rip open old scars and poured salt on the massively bleeding wounds. Ahsoka could sense that it truly was Sarah… it was like death had lost her from it's dark vaults… _Kane's able to become immune to the Force, he's created a cybernetic army and can apparently understand a Jedi Holocron like artifact… is he really some messiah guy as Nod rhetoric teaches?_

Ahsoka couldn't tell… but Riggs finally got the… 'diplomacy' going again, "It is good to see you amongst the living regardless of weather you think your commission is gone or not, Captain. Please, take a seat over there," he gestured towards an empty chair next to Ahsoka, "We have to get back to the particulars of politics. It's a pleasure to see you amongst us once more."

Sarah nodded, walking over and sitting down, most of the Councilors avoiding looking at her or pretending she wasn't there. Ahsoka looked at Sarah intently. _She feels horrible,_ Ahsoka realized as she examined Sarah using the Force, _She thinks she's an abomination… in a sense… she is, but, Skyguy had half his arm replaced with a robotic hand, and he rolled with it with flying colors. Heck, I almost think he saw it as an improvement… don't get how losing half your arm is an improvement. Guess Skyguy was the mechanic, always tinkering with his arm… hope I never have to learn why he liked it so much… besides the obvious pain… why wouldn't they be glad she's alive? I mean, it means a good person is still there._

She then recalled the stories about CABAL… _Ever since CABAL, humans here on Earth feared cyborgs, especially with the devastation that CABAL had caused in the First Firestorm Crisis, just like how the Republic feared droids after the Separatists started the Clone Wars… _As the equivalents and comparisons went through her head, other things came to mind... _oh no… it was Sarah's father, General Jack Granger now, who had defeated CABAL in the end… isn't one of his titles or epithets 'Bane of Cyborgs' or something like that? I know some wanted him to lead the counter-attacks against LEGION after Mount Cheyenne… but the 'Bane of Cyborgs' having… a cyborg daughter… alright, Kane likes irony, that's for sure… but by the Force this is getting too much like one of those soap holodramas back in the Republic…_

"Hey," Ahsoka asked finally, pushing herself away from the cold observational self she had developed over the last few years, whispering as not to disturb the cold politics going on, "You alright?"

Sarah looked at her, and gave an ever-so-slight nod. "I'm… fine, from a certain point of view."

"I know this isn't the time to ask," Ahsoka said, "But what happened? Rex told me you… died…"

"I did," Sarah answered, shaking her head, "Kane used some sort of fancy science… as he described it, it was a 'close thing' as I was about to 'fade off to death entirely'. I don't know what he meant… but I am, somehow, alive again…"

"But officially dead." Ahsoka finished, nodding. _Well, that's not exactly unheard of… how many times has Kane been tagged dead? Stang, for all I know, Kane, besides being a surprisingly capable lightsaber duelist, knows Dark Side Force techniques that can stop death… but even if Sarah's alive, no matter why, ZOCOM won't take her back, no… most of them lost family to CABAL, and even if Sarah was a victim to a reincarnation of CABAL or his bastard son or whatever, ZOCOM won't take her back, she'd be to them as she is to Rex… and worse, some aren't close enough to her that they'd be paralyzed about doing anything about her… some would be willing to _shoot_ her dead… again._

"Look, if you want to return to GDI, I could use you in the Firestorm Taskforce."

Sarah looked at her, surprised, "I thought the Taskforce was decom…"

"It's sort of like ZOCOM or the Steel Talons now; they brought it back as a last defense against the Scrin and anything out there after you… died… The idea was it could prepare humanity for the future. Most of our operations were turned towards delaying Tiberium, heck, we were almost synonymous with ZOCOM for a while, but our main goal is anti-Scrin and preparation for their return."

"GDI won't take me back, even if Kane didn't reprogram me or whatever he does with those cyborgs… apparently he skipped the brainwashing processes…" Sarah sighed, putting a hand on her chest, as if feeling an old wound act up… "Coric, is he alive?"

"Yes," Ahsoka answered, "Coric is fine, he's actually here, in Manchester. All the children who aren't old enough to be in GDI were transferred to a powerfully defended bunker under the Colonies… it has its own Firestorm Defenses protecting it."

Sarah nodded, relived.

The session ended and an alliance called, fittingly (and unoriginally, but who's complaining?), the Alliance was formed. To smooth any issues that were likely to come up on who gets credit for the TCN, Idris Corporation, the politically neutral mega-corporation which had been behind a lot of reconstruction would be behind the TCN's actual construction, with both GDI and Nod as security, while the GDI Council and Nod Inner Circle would meet regularly on the Alliance council (newly formed) and ensure that all went well.

Rex was the first one out of the room… Ahsoka could sense that he was confused… angry… and that anger was solidifying into something more… Sarah got up and followed him.

XXXXXX

"Rex?" someone asked at the door to his small room. Rex turned, blinking away the tears… Sarah, _No, not Sarah, a cheap, fake, honorless imitation of Sarah_, was at the door.

"What do you want?" Rex snarled like a wounded wolverine (which, ironically enough, had only two members of the species left: A male and a female Wolverine that Mitchell adopted as pets and was trying to breed), "I don't have time for Kane's mockeries."

She looked hurt, _Good,_ Rex savagely thought, _the puppet gets bit by the angry wolverine._

"Rex," she said, pained, and likely on the verge of tears herself, "Please… I don't like this any more than you do…"

"Good," Rex spat; "I'm glad that Kane's toys are realizing how their job _fails_."

Ahsoka was then at the door, and she nodded to Sarah, who left, something watery forming in her eyes. Ahsoka entered, and once the door shut…

"What is _WRONG WITH YOU?_" Ahsoka shouted, clearly outraged, "That's_ SARAH!_ She's _actually alive!_ I don't know how, even she doesn't, but _it's Sarah!_"

"No… Kane couldn't have raised the dead…" Rex said, stuttering, the shock of what he had seen getting to him.

He couldn't understand why Ahsoka didn't get it, why Ahsoka, who had the Force at her command and had evolved into a literal goddess in battle because of those powers, couldn't sense that Sarah's body was animated as a hollow mockery, that it wasn't her, it was some cheap knockoff using her body as a shell… like a actor wearing a mask.

Ahsoka walked close, and suddenly he felt funny, and realized Ahsoka had lifted him up with the Force just a few inches above the floor. She hurled him back, pinning him into the wall. Against the Force, Rex was weaponless, despite all his skill in various forms of combat, something he worked on perfecting to keep himself from getting overwhelmed by the politics of Earth.

"Damn it Rex!" Ahsoka shouted, "She's your _wife_ and you're shoving her away because she's been a _victim?!_"

"No!" Rex shouted back, bewildered that Ahsoka was making such accusations. _What is she doing, or has Kane hoodwinked her too?!_

"Then _**treat her like the woman you love!**_ Be a _man!_"

With that, Ahsoka lifted him up a few inches higher, then hurled Rex onto the bed and stormed out. He was bewildered…

_I'll have to be adamant, the proof will reveal itself._

General Jack Granger walked in, glancing at someone who was likely storming away with a very dangerous look on her face.

"Jack," Rex said, not bothering with any nod of respect, "Come in… can you _believe_ Kane's audacity? He comes to us when he knows we have to accept his aid, then _insults us_ by bringing our dead loved ones back as hollow mockeries?"

Granger paused, then shook his head, sighing. "I don't know what demonic procedures Kane uses… most cyborgs aren't capable of independent thought… but… it's her, Rex. It's her. I could tell by her expression… the very way she moved… Rex, you have to trust me, _it's her._"

Rex shook his head, disbelieving, _Even Sarah's own _father_ is hoodwinked by that damn coward?!_

XXXXXX

Coric Benjamin Granger was a fourteen year old teenager at that point in time. He had inherited Rex's muscle and face, but he had the hair and eyes of his mother, which he wore fairly short. The Tiberium radiation was considered low enough now to let the younger ones visit their relatives topside…

Ahsoka, who he had only been told a year ago about her real identity, was there to meet him.

"Hey, 'soka!" Coric said, waving.

"'ey Coric," Ahsoka responded, gesturing him to come over… there was something wrong however… "How you been doing?"

"Getting better now that GDI found a way to turn the tables. William Frank was having a field day on the news."

Ahsoka smiled, "Well, people need the morale boost."

"No kidding." Coric responded, recalling how school had been with people just giving up, even the teachers. A mood of imminent doom had moved into town. Some were surprised he could be confident as he was at times, given his mother had died.

He missed his mother greatly… he might of barely known her, but from what he heard (and read in a footnote during World History), she was one of the bravest women ever. He hoped one day to join GDI himself, continuing the family tradition and living up to her. But he had matured enough to realize that, frankly, he didn't know her enough… or rather, remembered enough about her… the memories still haunted him, however.

In school, he had proved that he earned the (mostly) good grades, and was surprisingly proficient at physical education, science, and, to a lesser degree, math. History interested him greatly, especially because of his heritage, and he had become a slight of a ringleader within the educational system's young men, though he had, for the most part, only used the 'power' he had over his peers to mediate disputes… not that it always went well.

One thing he inherited from Rex, his father, was the accelerated growth… but in a different way. He was, at that point, as tall and muscular as a very-fit and constantly-exercising sixteen year old, but the doctor said that he would live a normal lifespan, the Tiberium 'mutations' he inherited from Rex granting him some resistance, but not immunity, to the ill effects of Tiberium, which would be a boon in the days to come. He knew full well the truth about Rex, having been told when he turned fourteen at the end of the previous year, and thus mature enough, in Rex's eyes, to handle it. He was silent about how Rex had actually come to Earth, by accident of the Chronosphere. If there was only one thing that his military heritage had given him, it was the value of need-to-know.

As he walked with Ahsoka, he could tell something was troubling her. He might have only known her properly for a year, but he also had inherited his father's ability to see the minor details, the kind of details that would help a clone tell apart other clones of the same breed.

"Look, Coric," Ahsoka said, "This is going to come to a shock to you, but you have to know... you remember when your mother died, right?"

Coric nodded, wondering why it was so important… _we had made their peace with it years ago…_

"Well…" Ahsoka opened the door into her room… and inside was, to his dumb surprise, Sarah Granger, his _mother_, donned in full Zone Raider armor except for the helmet…

"Mo-mo…" he stuttered, looking at her, blinking, the years of early maturity fading like dust in the wind… "Mom?!"

"Coric?" Sarah asked, a tear coming to her eyes… "_Coric!_"

The two ran to each other, Coric leaping up and Sarah catching him, the two embracing each other like, as they were, mother and child.

"I thought I'd see you again," Coric said, tears streaking down his cheeks.

"I knew I would," Sarah responded, her eyes closed as she squeezed a bit too much.

"Mom… you're crushing me."

"Sorry," Sarah said, letting go. Coric fell to the ground easily, landing on his feet.

"How'd you come back?" Coric asked, "I mean… we never found your body, and Havoc always said, _If there isn't a dead carcass in front of you, the man isn't dead yet, _but really, it was kinda hard to justify you somehow being alive with what's happened over the last…"

"It's alright," Sarah said as he stopped to catch his breath, a few tears coming down her checks… but there was something… off, he could tell, "You have a right to know. I _did_ die, and I should have been left to rest. But Kane, for reasons I can't fathom, apparently decided that he would take my body away from GDI and…" she swallowed, "reanimate me as a… cyborg."

Coric was shocked… his own mother… was now a _cyborg?_

_Calm down Coric,_ he told himself, _you're 'adopted really-big-sister' is a freaking alien who's got weird magic-like stuff, this is actually pretty normal by comparison…_

"Doesn't change who you are, does it?" Coric asked finally.

"No… it doesn't." Sarah said, "But… your father is less… accepting of it."

Coric nodded… but Ahsoka answered, "He made peace with what happened at Mount Cheyenne, he thinks Kane was just taking a moment to mock and insult us while we can't properly respond because well, we need the murderer. If it wasn't for the fact that humanity is at stake… Rex probably would have killed Kane. And he's probably more than capable, assuming Kane stayed dead after getting shot, impaled, or ionized."

Silence prevailed the next minute, uncomfortably. Then Ahsoka walked towards the coffee maker and started heating some of it up. Ironically, one of the only non-rationed goods left was coffee, and since even water was being rationed, that was saying something. Out of necessity people drank it, it was common enough that selling it would be redundant, and it was a good supplement for a lack of other liquids. Somehow, Tiberium hadn't mutated any of the sources for it, so it was still pretty common, even grown in the small gardens people kept out of necessity.

As it was heating up, Ahsoka asked, "So, Sarah. How long has Kane been planning the TCN, if you know?"

"A while," Sarah said, "He apparently sent recon teams of Tiberium Troopers to make sure that all the schematics were perfect… but he couldn't build it. Only GDI had the resources. Sonic Crystals are one of the keys to the TCN, and only GDI can create them."

Ahsoka nodded, "That'd explain a few things. But why hasn't Kane prepared the resources for it before hand?"

"He talked to me about that, actually, giving me a bit of a more in-depth 'history lesson', if you could call it that." Sarah said, "Apparently, that was exactly why he hit Hammerfest back in Tib War Two, to get the sonic technology required and to prepare it. He's been working towards this for a very long time, but McNeil put a gaping hole in his plan."

Ahsoka shook her head, "Then _why_ hasn't he been trying to work _with_ GDI? That's what I don't get… he comes out of the blue all of a sudden, much as when he first appeared, and just said, 'Hey, GDI, Kane here. Yeah, we need to ally to stop the Tib that I've been saying is our evolution, sorry I screwed up so much in the guess and caused a few unnecessary world wars over it.' And yet all he probably has to do is steamroll us with the damned Marked of Kane and there wouldn't much of a stanging thing we can do about it."

"He didn't tell me everything, just what he thought I'd need to know… but it just opened up more questions."

Coric was standing there, not following very well beyond sonic crystals (which he knew was a potent GDI weapon), and general idea of what happened in the Battle of Hammerfest in the Second Tiberium War, but besides that, he was mostly lost. Ahsoka glanced at Sarah, and nodded, ceasing their discussion on whatever the TCN was.

"So," Ahsoka asked him, "How's school going?"

"Well as it can… Missus Wanker…"

"Walker," Ahsoka chimed in, a slight grin on her face.

"You know how everyone hates her… right… anyways; she's been surprisingly… aloof, like something happened… she said 'it's reversing'… what's reversing?"

Ahsoka and Sarah traded glances again… _Need to know,_ Coric realized, _They're wondering if it's declassified enough._

"It's gonna be in the news by the time the city is even starting the reclamation process," Sarah said finally, "you know William can't avoid a story like that."

XXXXXX

**August First, 2062**

**Four miles northwest of Paris, France**

**Zone N/A**

"Commander, thank God you're here!" shouted General Locke, leader of GDI's ZOCOM division, who inherited the job after General Renteria died, and was currently in charge of protecting Paris. "I'm knee-deep in shiners here! It's like a bunch of them clans got together!"

"Wouldn't be surprised," Ahsoka commented, "Or it could be a new generation, don't forget, they grow up pretty quickly, like… by thirteen years old they're adults in their prime… but stay in their prime long past it." _Almost like clone troopers… except the acceleration stops after they reach their prime… or slows down to give them the years taken…_

"Yeah, well, we're pinned down to our last command post at the Eiffel Tower, think you can get some of that pressure off of us?"

"Easily, General. We're inbound on your position now. Firestorm defenses are offline?"

"No kidding," Locke said as several explosions occurred on his end, "Just get in here!"

"Just be there when we get to you. Firestorm Taskforce, form up."

Ahsoka wasn't piloting a Firehawk that time; she was, instead, going to ground assault it with the Zone units. Paris, along with it's almost now literal sister city Tokyo, were the two best-off Colonies, but Paris had been under partial siege on-off for the last two years, hence why Locke was there most of the time instead of at GDI council meetings. The TCN node in Paris was built into the Eiffel Tower, and it was the Hub for all France based TCN activity, but the city was about Yellow-Zone status… but around the city it was a Red Zone. Zones hadn't been officially designated yet either, as it was still only pockets of Yellow (arguably Blue) in a world of Red.

"Alright, who's up for a challenge?" Ahsoka began, turning to the squad on the Gunship with her, "We got nothing for reinforcement and A-SAT is down again, and an Ion Storm rolling into Paris now that the Firestorm Defenses are offline. Remember, we need to minimize civilian casualties and GDI casualties. If we loose too many, we'll have to pull out of Paris, and you all know we can't afford that. First objective is to secure the GDI security base at the Eiffel Tower. Isn't large enough, in fact, it was more of a Peacekeeper post than anything, but it's the last we have. Because this is home territory we're taking back, we're a bit limited in our weapon choice. No area of effect incendiary or fragmentation weapons, so EMP, Rail Guns, auto cannons, and Sonics _only_. Am I understood?"

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" echoed the soldiers in the Harrier, and Ahsoka heard similar confirmation from the other squad leaders on other gunships.

"Check your seals, there's a series of anti-aircraft emplacements!" shouted one of the Harrier pilots as the two Firehawk squadrons roared ahead to engage and destroy such.

Ahsoka stumbled into the cockpit as the flak began to explode. _Probably using old flak guns with accelerated power and targeting systems,_ she decided as she got a look at the tactical map.

"Pilot, set us up to drop down into the Clan Ironskull artillery position. We're going to take that out to give Locke some relief."

"Got it ma'am, should I relay similar orders to the others?" the Harrier began to descend.

"No, tell them to get to Locke ASAP, the Firehawks too." Ahsoka stumbled back into the hold, "Alright boys, get ready for a drop!"

The Troopers quickly readied their Jump Jets. Ahsoka however, didn't have one… but anyone who had seen her in an infantry battle before knew she wouldn't need one… and she rarely travelled with the new soldiers in a gunship drop.

"Opening floor in three… two… one…"

The floor opened and they let go of the rails, as the pilots call of "Have fun down there!" echoed across their helmets. Falling down to Earth rapidly, anti air flew up trying to target the gunship. Mutants ran left and right, trying to evade what they thought was a bomb barrage. Ahsoka slowed herself down with the Force and ignited her lightsaber, rushing forward and cutting down the guards who were now realizing that Zone Troopers had just dropped into their artillery position. The gunners kept firing their shells at the sonic walled GDI position at the Eiffel Tower, oblivious to the battle occurring a few feet behind them.

One of the artillery crewmen suddenly shouted in pain as Ahsoka's lightsaber cleaved him asunder. She then lifted up one of the ammo crates with the Force and hurled it into another cannon, causing both to explode and kill the gunners. The Zone Troopers had cleaned up the guards by that point, and thirty bloody seconds later, the entire position was secure for GDI.

The Harrier Gunship that had dropped them off came in low to the ground near them, floor once more available to stand on.

"General Locke says thanks," the pilot said, giving Ahsoka a thumbs up. Ahsoka and the other Zone Troopers got back on board and were flown towards the Eiffel Tower.

As they arrived, they saw that the small GDI 'outpost', really, a power plant powering some base defenses, a encircling wall (or squaring wall, as it was a squared enclosure) around the complex, with GDI Watchtowers at the two entrances. GDI soldiers had set up Foxholes, and seemed to be using them as both cover for combat and as makeshift tents. General Locke was coordinating it all from a deployed Surveyor… GDI was in desperate straits indeed. The Firestorm Taskforce Zone Infantry had landed and secured the area. Ahsoka landed behind a group of retreating mutants driving salvaged GDI First Tiberium War M1 Abrams tanks.

"Commander… nice timing… we were on our last legs. Thanks for getting rid of those arty pieces."

"No problem," Ahsoka said as the Zone Trooper squad she was with blasted the last retreating M1 Abrams to scrap. Ahsoka noted that the M1 Abrams was retrofitted with a Titian Mark II's 155 millimeter cannon. _Must of taken them from one of the downed Talon transports…_ Ahsoka decided, recalling that a group of extremely talented (rumored to be lead by a rogue student of Ghostalker) had shot down a Steel Talon convoy, causing it to come down… by the time the nearby Steel Talon base could respond, the mutants who organized the attack had withdrawn save for a few rear guard units who got left behind in the confusion.

Now Ahsoka knew where the Titian parts had gone… but where did the legs go? Melted down into something?

"Hang on," Locke said, "I'm detecting… what the _hell_ is THAT?!"

Coming up the road was what looked to Ahsoka like a giant, mechanical guerilla…. _That answers that question…_

"What the _hell!?_" shouted one of the Zone Troopers…

Several more of the guerillas appeared and began to, literally like an ape, rush forward. GDI guns opened fire, damaging the lead one and causing it to collapse.

Ahsoka lit her lightsaber and rushed forward; leaping onto one of the guerillas and stabbing the head… she heard a scream and the ape collapsed, Ahsoka barely having time to leap off before she came down into the wall of GDI fire.

"Target the heads!" Ahsoka shouted as she began to leap onto the other guerillas, stabbing the heads, sometimes having to move the lightsaber around to find the driver. Unfortunately, while Ahsoka's lightsaber could cut through easily, the armor was enough to absorb the GDI fire… mostly. It took concentrated fire to take one of them down. Several Firehawks having cleaned up a division of salvaged Mammoth Mark I tanks coming in (retrofitted with modern rail guns and armor), and engaged some of the size guerillas, but they were out of rockets and bombs, and were forced to use their machine guns.

The guerillas got close and, with one swipe, a guerilla took out a Watchtower, and then the other, before being brought down by concentrated GDI fire.

"Damn it, those things are tough!" Locke shouted, "We need some reinforcement!"

Ahsoka then heard someone else on the channel… "Bah, you GDI scum! You think you've won…"

Suddenly, from the ground itself, APCs appeared and mutant soldiers poured out. GDI soldiers whirled around, opening fire. Many ZOCOM soldiers went down, as did a couple Firestorm Taskforce Zone Troopers. Ahsoka rushed into the base and began cutting through the Forgotten, blocking bullets and cutting through poorly made armor like butter.

A half hour of combat later and several more waves of mutants… the battle was over… but Paris was in ruins.

"God DAMN IT!" Locke shouted, "Damn it ALL!"

"Let's get evacuation going," Ahsoka said, "Commander Tano to GDI command, _come in_."

Static. An Ion Storm began to rage throughout the city and Ion Storm alarms were having a field day.

"**Radar, Offline. Ion Storm interfering with all inter-colony communications. Mutant reinforcements inbound."**

"Daughter of a…" Locke said, "Alright, we need to secure the Ion Storm Shelters. There's four of them, all strategically placed throughout the city. We need to protect each one until the evacuation can arrive. We can't seal them, not without risking civilians. So we split up and cover. And don't forget, we also have to protect the TCN Hub or a lotta work is gonna be wasted."

Civilians were rushing to the Storm Shelters, leaving the cover they had taken before hand, and mutant forces were coming in from all sides, determined to secure them. GDI forces split up, the Firehawks and Harriers grounded now by the Ion Storm. Lightning began to lace the city, blasting holes into the various buildings.

GDI reached the storm shelters first, and began digging in as much as possible. Ahsoka was stationed at the southern entrance, along with a good chunk of her strike team. As civilians rushed inside, Ahsoka directed the fortification of the entrance. Sandbags and scrap metal was dragged together to form barricades and cover.

But the mutants never came…

"GDI," came a mechanical voice, "This is the third battalion of the Marked of Kane. We have eradicated the hostile forces inbound."

"Who are we talking to?"

"Designation 01-0117, Enlightened cyborg, keeper of the 3rd Battalion's tactical AI."

"So basically a second rate EVA unit in a cyborg?" Locke said harshly.

A pause… "While that is… roughly put… that captures the essence of it."

"Hrmpf. Well, thanks for the help. Any other _shiners_ in sight?"

"Only those who flee or are captured."

"Good enough for me. Now to wait this storm out…. Actually, on the captives, don't execute them, I don't give a shit what your directives are, we need some interrogation material."

Ahsoka felt some relief wash over her… they wouldn't have to fight tooth and nail that day to protect civilians from one of the more aggressive mutant clans that day… and Paris could rebuild, rather than potentially having to be evacuated, keeping hope up, and not just hope, but easily Earth's future.

"Still can't believe we're working with _cyborgs_ now…" one of the Zone Troopers commented…

"Neither can I," Ahsoka responded, shrugging thoughts of what could have happened away, "Come on; we need to get the Firestorm back online."

XXXXXX

**TCN Node #16**

**August 3****rd****, 2062**

**Strait of Gibraltar**

**Zone N/A**

Sarah sighed as she joined yet another Marked of Kane patrol… despite the fact that _she was __**GDI**_, was stuck with the Marked, Rex even suggested it to her in a roundabout way… it was torturous… the man who _loved_ her, who _married_ her, was keeping her as far away as possible because he thought she wasn't alive… but a cruel mockery of the woman he loved… loves… but that was a grammatical argument for another time.

_Well,_ she told herself, sighing; _I don't blame him that much… Kane wasn't exactly being sensitive…_

"Keep moving," said one of the Awakened 'officers' harshly as she began to lag behind, stuck in her thoughts, "you should not need rest."

"I know, I know…" Sarah retorted hotly. She might be a cyborg now, but she damn well wasn't mindless like the rest of them.

"Command reports an incoming group of hostile mutants. Our orders are to move to exterminate." One of the Awakened, retrofitted with an advanced communication pack, reported. The leading Awakened nodded, and they all turned to what would become the combat zone, near the old air port. A large plane, battered plane bearing tribal markings touched down, skidding as it had its wings blown off from the nearby, concealed Mantis Anti-Aircraft drones, and mutants soldiers rushed out, opening fire. Sarah loaded her grenade launcher with one of the incendiary grenades she was stuck with (as Nod had no sonics) and took the first shot, the old, battered grenade launcher still working despite how she'd had difficulty maintaining it over the years stuck in a Nod compound because of constant propaganda playing in the background. _Still have a hard time tuning their propaganda out of my head… I really would have expected cyborgs not to need it…_

The grenade soared over, blasting a group of mutants clean away. She reloaded and fired again, then again, taking advantage of the full cover offered by the airfields old cargo crates. The Awakened however, simply marched forward, taking the damage and falling as they were focused on. Sarah couldn't help but muse on the situation as she reloaded her grenade launcher. _Now I see why that Republic that Rex was born and bred for chose clones over 'droids', the living actually know how to use the terrain… and evidently, living converted into machines can't act on instinct and take cover or any of the other things that truly makes soldiers, loyalty, camaraderie, teamwork, and simple gut instinct…_

The fight ended as the last mutant soldier, a turban on his head for who-knew-why, collapsed, a number of bullet holes in his head, chest, and legs, almost literally ventilated.

"All threats eliminated. Unit 26-6958, why did you not remain in formation?" asked the leading Awakened harshly as he advanced on her.

"Took advantage of a tactical edge to ensure victory," she responded, hating herself for not being able to use millions of snappy retorts that had been at her tongue. _Good God, I had having to go all technical in my speech just to avoid getting shot by these damn things for being 'errant'._

"Unit 26-6958, run self diagnostic."

She muttered and activated the self-diagnostic system, originally for Zone Armor, and retrofitted for cybernetics… all green except for one area, there was a slow down in response from her to her Jump Jet's systems. _Well, that happens. Not a hard fix._

"Minor bug with the Jump Jet system, but otherwise no damage." She answered, knowing it would probably be lost on them…

Or not, as the leading Awakened said, "I see you have been modified. Accessing data now… data received… modifications noted. All checks out. Resume patrol."

An hour later, they reported back, but Sarah excused herself skillfully (in the mind of a mindless cyborg, that is), and slipped to the nearby depilated building with a few guards outside.

The Idris Corporation encampment was where she mostly slept, at the request of the Foreman, so she could bunk there and be safe from any Marked deciding to 'discipline the erring cyborg', which had happened once and despite Sarah's efforts to keep it away from the workers, got several injured. She still had memories of being literally shot into line by various cyborgs during her time in one of Nod's hidden, subterranean facilities during one of the times where they were let out of the stasis tanks for a routine 'check up'. _Course… the Idris fellas still keep guns handy when I'm near… not that I blame them._

"Captain," nodded one of the mercenary security guards. Although technically Idris was under GDI/Nod protection, they, due to being 'neutral and non-partisan', trained and fielded their own mercenary units to protect the worksites… most of them small, supplemental rather than proper protection, and usually wound up using GDI equipment.

Inside the large, Tiberium-proofed building, Idris workers were busy, in Tiberium Field Suits as the radiation seals were of arguable quality, putting parts together and getting them ready to move into place and build, and even carrying them into place. _Shame conventional MCV technology can't work like it used to for this TCN… but least they can build the parts._ The worker camp was connected via a small tunnel, with a small railway and flatbed carts, to a Nod MCV which was stamping out parts for the TCN when it wasn't busy setting up the defenses or what was required to maintain the Marked of Kane cyborgs.

The hustle and bustle kept her from being overly noticed as she slipped towards her small room, really, a closet with a sleeping bag. Inside, she pulled her helmet off, glad that Kane had at least let her keep her head human and visible if she chose to, and started adjusting the inside of the helmet and rerouting it to her wrist EVA unit, recently added, and did a quick diagnostic on her suit. All optimal, and no sign of decay and thus no need for 'repairs'. How she hated heading in for 'repairs'… or, more accurately, being dipped into a life-support tank while sterilized robotic arms carefully 'upgraded' the cybernetic connection between herself and her suit, even replacing the cybernetics.

_Death is preferable to the pain of becoming a cyborg_, Sarah had, a decade ago, decided. _I somehow doubt Kane had mercy in mind when he put me through it… to think that people willingly go through it and loose their minds purposefully just to serve Kane as one of those abominations…_

Her hand began to itch again… she scratched at it or, more accurately, the armor plating above it, for her wrist was under the plating of her gloves, and even if she removed the plates, the thick and whole-body-covering under suit she wore, part of the Zone Raider's standard kit, would stop her, and that couldn't be removed as it, after being thickened, carried a lot of the cybernetic connections that kept her wired to the armor. She was, in a sense, more vulnerable to death then before, as if the cybernetics were disrupted too much, death would swallow her up swiftly as the artificial tubes used to supplement what was left of her heart failed to keep her remaining blood, as well as that 'donated' by other sources to replace lost blood… she overheard a Nod Militant say it was taken from several dead Zone Raiders from the battle, but there was no proof of that and she suspected it was just the usual drunk man's stories. Regardless, she knew someone had pumped replacement blood into her, and Kane's modifications to her DNA had, according to him, prevented decay of the rest of her body, (_almost like everything below my neck is mummified,_ she recalled), and ensured that age wouldn't be a problem, she'd be as young as she was when she 'died' at Mount Cheyenne as she would be, potentially, in 2100._ Man, to think I'll live that long… in the kind of pain I'll be in regularly from these damn cybernetics…_

She knew that she probably would have retired by 2100, and likely around 75 or so years old. But now… the turn of the century seemed a lifetime away, the regular irritation of the cybernetics making minutes drag into hours and seconds into minutes at times. She shivered as the darkness of the closet reminded her of the storage facility she remained in for several years… her only outside news was the news station access she had… unable to communicate, or even move beyond a few basic gestures when in a life-support tank to avoid any issues of 'mortal decay'… she scratched her chin, and felt some very small hairs rub against the gauntlet… ever since she had been augmented with cybernetics, some hair had always grown there… never enough to need to shave, but she shaved if off anyways when she had the chance.

"**Incoming Transmission,"** reported Sarah's recently repaired-and-reconnected EVA unit. She was fully awake now, knocked out of her thoughts.

"Source?" she asked.

"**GDI Commander Ahsoka Tano, from her personal EVA unit."**

Her heart skipped a beat as a small hope she had been smuggling through the Marked inspections flared. "Feed type?"

"Audio only."

"Patch it to the helmet," and with that, she slipped it on, unsurprised it'd be audio only. With the helmet on, she'd have full seals and the conversation would truly be private.

XXXXXX

**Fifty Miles south of Paris**

**Zone N/A**

Ahsoka checked the charge on her Rail Carbine out of habit as she waited to get the connection. She was on a longer patrol, infantry work as the hilled area was filled with caves, they were about to stop to radio in, but that was the job left to the communications officer, Ahsoka and the others would have a moment for a personal call, if they wished. "Hey, Hill, watch your step," she said to a Zone Trooper who was about to step on a concealed sinkhole, "Place is booby trapped by mutants, probably Ironskull."

Hill stepped back, not wanting to loose a leg… or worse, and Ahsoka nodded to the engineer, donned in a Tiberium Field Suit, and he quickly disabled the sinkhole, revealing it to really be dirt pounded so fine it was like quicksand… and of course, modified in a lab. After that, Ahsoka looked around, her small patrol had left that morning, and had been on the move constantly, with only the ration bars that could be slipped inside a suit for the soldiers, but for Ahsoka, she just breathed in the radiation. It would work until she could get back to a GDI base for food… even if she was immune to Tiberium radiation, she wasn't exactly eager to try eating Tiberium-infected food, just in case.

"**Establishing Audio Connection, stand by."** EVA reported.

"Got it," she look up to the squad and in a louder voice said, "alright men, break time. Go ahead and dump any bio waste, I know it's clogging at least one of your vents."

A Zone Trooper shuffled off, embarrassed as he took cover behind a spire of Tiberium crystal, while the others sat down and, after tapping a small button on their suits wrist, started eating the ration bars that were slipped into Zone Trooper helmets.

"Sarah, how you doing?" Ahsoka asked as the communications link on her wrist EVA turned green, taking a seat in private behind a larger Tiberium spire.

"Fine, you?"

"Not bad. Got your request, patched it through to Mitchell, he's fine with it." _That's actually putting it mildly,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _He was a bit ecstatic that she'd be away from the Marked._

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Got that right. Ahsoka out."

With that, she cut the transmission.

XXXXXX

**August 4****th****, 2062**

**Officer's Quarters**

**Firestorm Taskforce Outpost #Delta Five**

**Just outside of Paris, France**

**Zone N/A**

"Alright," Ahsoka said, "Got your request for a transfer to a GDI division. Mitchell passed it down to me, saying it was my call. Approved, but you need to select a specific GDI division. I checked with ZOCOM, Locke's not eager to have you back, but he'll accept it. McNeil says RAID won't work, even if they have the nephew of a dead Nod drug-dealing general, a cyborg is a step too far, it's not a case of it being personal, but he's worried about his men reacting to you. Obviously your father is out of the question, favoritism and all that politically karked stuff. General Riggs and Colonel James won't take you either, Riggs because it's a political mistake and James because she hates anything Nod, and cyborgs are on the top of the list. General Nagama was hesitant, saying that he doubts, and I quote, 'that a warrior made of steel could match a warrior of flesh', but he's willing to let you in on the condition you submit to random checks on your cybernetic parts. The Steel Talons are perfectly OK as well. I, however, could use you in the Firestorm Taskforce."

Sarah nodded, "I'll take the commission with the Taskforce. Might need to check with Mitchell, he reactivated my old commission, though as Steel Talons rather than ZOCOM."

Ahsoka nodded, "No worries, he sent me the bureaucratic stuff, just need to adjust which division and squad you're in and get Mitchell's signature to approve of the transfer, he's personal like that."

Sarah nodded. "Thanks for hearing me out."

"Least I could do," Ahsoka answered, "Well, that's done. Want something to eat? Base's fare isn't the best, but it's actually decent compared to the ration bars we get normally."

Sarah nodded, "No worries, I don't eat much anyways these days… otherwise it builds up."

_Poor woman,_ Ahsoka realized, _she's alive, but she can't enjoy any of the benefits, stuck probably 'till death in military service by the fact she's wired into that armor…_

She felt a new pity for Rex… and not just Rex, but all the Clone Troopers, _too numerous to name…_ who had fought for the Republic in a galaxy far, far away. _What Sarah's going through is almost like what Rex, Cody, Coric senior, Bly… a list too long, really, went through… but it was from birth 'till death…_

She then recalled Slick's story, told by Rex, not Anakin… and suddenly, something haunting came to her… almost crushing her heart… _The Jedi _were_ slavers just by letting the Clones into the war… by calling on them… they never had a choice… they were bred like animals at a farm and sent to the slaughter…_

It surprised her how such insights could be gained… but then she remembered what Rex had told her when she first realized the beginnings of what came to her just then… _Both the clones and the Jedi are in a position neither of them like… and were, are maybe, trying to make the best of it… still, I think most of the Jedi would of rather the clones never been created and instead a more common Republic army made… not to say the Clones weren't worthy of life, but… I really question weather the use of clones, even if it does put a limbo between the common person and war, is justifiable… I mean, I don't think the clones even got a "thank you for keeping us away from getting attacked", they were just dismissed as human droids until they started becoming individuals…_

It suddenly occurred to her that if she ever returned to the Jedi Order, chances are all her friends from the Clone Troopers would be dead… robbed of a full lifespan by accelerated growth… she then recalled the Kaminoans, the creators of the Clone Army… and realized, she had never asked Rex about a Clone's perspective on them, all she really knew was that the 'long necks' as they were once colorfully reffered too were nitpicky about perfection. _I wonder if they kicked me out of Kalinda Shoals because they were afraid I'd make the clone troopers there realize that someone actually _cared_ for them as people, and not as expendable soldiers… that would explain a lot…_

"Ahsoka?" Sarah asked, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry," Ahsoka said, shaking her head, "Had some sudden insights… kind of weird, to tell the truth, when it happens."

"I know what you mean, amongst ZOCOM, we called it 'Fridge Brilliance'." Sarah said simply.

"What?" Ahsoka asked, surprised.

"You ever go for a midnight snack and as you open the fridge, the dots connect for some movie you saw or book you read, and it is just so crystal clear you don't get how you missed it?"

"Suppose that's one way to look at it…"

"Don't be surprised, I realized how people could serve Nod as cannon fodder when I realized how poor lives were in Yellow Zones when GDI promised more."

Ahsoka gave a hesitant nod… then a question that had been nagging at her came to her…

"I know it's a bit personal, and this is off the record, of course, but it's been nagging at me ever since… you returned."

"What is it?" Sarah asked.

"What was it like… dying, that is. I mean, really dying, and not just down-into-a-really-thick-coma."

Sarah raised her eyebrows, surprised for a minute… then catching on. "Well… it was hell, no ifs about it, though it might of just been the violence of the situation. Whole body was surging, trying to stay alive… it was a slow, painful fall… after that, I can't say much except when I woke up… I felt like it was after a restful sleep. Dunno if it's the same, or if perhaps I didn't 'die' and just went into a coma… though when I was stuck in one, when I woke up I was aching all over… I wasn't so much when I woke up in a Nod stasis tube though, evidently while I was… dead; my body adjusted to the cybernetics, but trust me, I was surprised realizing that I had been transformed like that, and so easily. Now… I had doubts myself, but… I don't suppose you know something about…"

"I went out earlier," Ahsoka answered, "Kane tased me in the back after I put LEGION on the defensive, so I can't give you an insight."

Sarah gave a small 'oh', but just nodded before it was aloud. _She wanted confirmation… she knew that since I was a Jedi, even if she doesn't know the whole meaning, she knew that I'd of been able to sense it… but I was out before she went down, so I couldn't tell._

"Out of curiosity," Sarah asked, "If you could pick how you died, how'd you of chosen to go?"

"Probably same way as you," Ahsoka answered, "Taking a bullet for someone, even an innocent bystander. At least, that's how I always figured I'd go… but to tell the truth, if I had to use my last breath for something, I'd put it towards giving the Scrin their just desserts, and more than just for what they did here on Earth."

Sarah nodded, well aware of what the Scrin had as a policy for strong, female Force-users. From what they had learned in the Third Tiberium War, 14 years ago at that point, the Scrin captured the powerful, female Force users, believing them to be an incarnation or avatar of a Scrin goddess, and used them to give birth to the next basic Scrin unit… then killed them at an alter afterwards.

_Well,_ Ahsoka decided, _they tried… and they died trying… though they probably would have won if Sarah didn't do the heroic thing and attack them when I was pinned down._

"I went out pretty much as I thought I would," Sarah said, "Fighting to keep people from going through what I had to… and the last decade makes a statement like that a lot more important for me."

Ahsoka could only nod, praying to whatever was out there that she never had to learn what Sarah had to suffer from her cybernetic enhancements. _Almost makes me pity Grievous… almost._

"There's something to be said about making your life count in the end."

"Agreed."

The door suddenly slammed open, and a slightly thinner than usual Enlightened was standing there…

"Unit 26-6958, why are you not on station?" it asked, cold and emotionless… and its voice a few pitches higher than it should have been.

"She's with me," Ahsoka said, sliding her hand towards her belt-clipped lightsaber slowly… then Sarah shook her head slightly to Ahsoka… _Stand down, and let me handle it,_ was what the message conveyed.

Sarah stood up, and said, "I'm not a number, I have a name. Sarah Granger. And as why I'm not on station, it's because I'm transferring out to a GDI division, all protocols are checked out."

"Not exactly," the Enlightened said, "As a Deathless within the Marked of Kane, even if using modified equipment and different cybernetics, you are bound by oath and destiny to serve the Prophet."

"Guess what?" Sarah said, "I never swore any oath to that so-called 'prophet' of yours."

"Insolence noted. Authorized by protocol to use excessive force."

"For you, a small 'f'," Ahsoka said, raising her hand, and she picked the Cyborg up with the Force, "For me, I use a large 'F'."

Although surprised, the Enlightened coldly turned his EMP arm towards Sarah… who reacted faster than Ahsoka could of thought possible, speed she had only seen in a Jedi Knight… _or Grievous…_

Sarah was up close and, with surprising strength, broke the EMP cannon, and then the supercharged particle beam cannon in the other arm.

"Desertion and assault noted. Fate Squad dispatched."

Minutes passed in silence as they waited for a group of four Nod soldiers to appear in commando equipment.

"Fate Squad called off," the Enlightened said finally, as if positively disappointed, "Unit 26-6958, you are hereby discharged from the Marked of Kane. Go find your fate, whatever it is."

With that, like nothing happened, the cyborg picked himself… no, herself (Ahsoka finally could tell why the voice was a bit higher then usual), and left.

"That was…" Ahsoka paused to figure out the right word…

"The extreme end of a typical Marked of Kane. Normally, I'm nothing better than a slave and a number."

Ahsoka could only give a slight nod... "For what it's worth Sarah… I'm sorry I couldn't of prevented it."

"It's appreciated," Sarah answered, "Even if the sympathy seems a bit hollow to you."

_Wow,_ Ahsoka thought, realizing Sarah had gained a lot of perception. _Then again, in a world where everyone is basically the same, you tend to learn that… took me a few months to be able to recognize clones by name, even if only in passing, and even then I sometimes needed to check a datapad and the armor tallies._

XXXXXX

**August 5****th****, 2062**

**GDI Admin Building**

**Manchester, United Kingdom**

"Rex," said Mitchell, at the door to his room, "I want to talk to you."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"It's about Sarah."

"What about her?" Rex asked, suspiciously.

"You really need to stop pretending she's not alive anymore and that it's just an EVA like AI wired into her body, she's _alive_ and she'll be in Manchester for a day before heading to her new deployment in Scotland."

Rex looked at Mitchell… "So _you_ were the one who reactivated her commission and transferred her to the Steel Talons?"

"Yes," Mitchell said hotly, preparing himself for the shouting match to come. _Rex is like the son I never had… and well, there are times when the father has to have this kind of talk with the son, related in blood or no._ "Look, I had to leave her with the damn Marked because even with a GDI commission, Kane had her attached to an elite division within his own forces, and it was too touchy an issue to leave, but she's gotten properly transferred to the Firestorm Taskforce, and it's all been dealt with after a quick chat with Kane."

"So what you're telling me is to believe Kane's lies?" Rex responded, his voice rising.

"If that is how you see them, then _yes_, for God's sake! She's the woman you swore that you would love 'till death do you part!"

"And she _IS_ dead!" Rex shouted back, "Or did you not read the casualty report at Mount Cheyenne ten years ago?! You know what it's like, Mitchell? To have the love of your life killed in front of your eyes, taking a bullet for you when you probably would of survived it?!"

"Not in that context, but I damned as hell know that death is a part of life, and so is life!"

"She's a freaking _cyborg_, and you know better than I that those things are almost always animated from dead bodies!"

"Yeah? And unlike most, she still has her _free will_! She stood face to face with an Enlightened and told it she was leaving the Marked of Kane, and wound up having to pin it down it a barracks brawl!"

Rex stopped suddenly, surprised… as if trying to justify how a regular run-of-the-mill, how _any_ Nod cyborg could do that. _I got him,_ Mitchell thought, relieved, _he knows as well as I that cyborgs just don't have the ability to break from their programming if they were, in fact, programmed at all with neural enhancements. Sarah, thank God, was not so 'enhanced'._

"Rex," Mitchell said softly, lowering his voice, "Coric knows. He knows how you see her, but he knows it's her, like only a child can. Funny, yet wonderful thing, the mind of a child. It can see things full grown adults can't, and are more open to things so often because well, they're learning, and a lot of the times, don't know the social conventions of society yet, and they're unafraid to say what grown men won't."

Rex only nodded… and Mitchell could tell he had hit the soft spot, where Ahsoka, a Jedi, couldn't, or Jack Granger, Rex's father in law, couldn't, Mitchell, the almost literal adoptive father, could. _It's going to take time for that rift to heal… especially since Sarah will be out fighting for the safety of the Tiberium Control Network. But if I've set that rift to heal…_

Mitchell knew that only good could come out of bringing Rex and Sarah back together. Heroism was often born from love, Mitchell had observed over the years. Love for their friends… their families. It could be more powerful then the fires of war, and (although he oft debated the exact semantics of such), the firepower of a Mammoth Mark II.

XXXXXX

**Author's Notes:**

**This story is going to be a pretty general cover, I got a lot of years to cover of TCN conflicts, from 2062 all the way to about 2072 or so, at least 10 years. The focus will be to show the shift from typical C&C bases and more towards Crawlers, as well as detail the TCN Conflict and the Incursion War in some more detail, as well as set up the intended sequel to answer C&C 4. Because of this, don't be surprised if I jump the timeline, I really have to try and cover a lot, and there'll be less of an overall plot and more smaller arcs, stories of specific battles, and in general a bridge between C&C 3 and C&C 4. This one might have some serious explanations, again, like a Homeric epic, in seemingly random places. But, that's my writing style. :/**

**Also, regarding Sarah back… well, what can I say, she was too good a character to kill off, but had to be killed off… besides, it opens up an interesting can of beans, no?**

**And please leave reviews, Mitchell's two Wolverines are hungry! Each review increases their survival chance! :P**

**Legal Stuff:**

**As of March 20th, 2010, the following Copyright is in affect:**

**Command & Conquer belongs to Electronic Arts**

**Star Wars belongs to LucasArts**

**Origonal characters are 'owned' by myself, and I would highly appreciate it if people did not use them without permission.**


	2. Chapter 2: Valves

_A lot of people ask why so many of the mutants became hostile to humanity. The answer? Quite simply, they felt betrayed, and they were scapegoated far too much by humanity. Although the Forgotten did try to maintain diplomatic relationships and prevent a war between mutant and human, they failed, even with the Taskforce helping them. Too many riots broke out as Tiberium began to destroy the world, and GDI was stretched too thinly, even with Forgotten aid, to take care of it _and_ fight Tiberium. In the end, I think it was humanity that started the war between most of the mutant clans and GDI, simply out of ignorance and the need for scapegoats. A real shame we had to fight them so often, but we started it, even if GDI made the 'formal' declaration after a bunch of mutant clans did. I think the witch hunts, if you know what I mean, hadn't happened; we might have been able to have the TCN done much faster… and maybe more securely too._

- Unknown veteran of the Firestorm Taskforce, name redacted at said veteran's request, reminiscing on the battles between mutant and GDI during the TCN Conflict.

**Chapter 2: Valves**

**One Year Later**

**August 7****th****, 2063**

**En Route to Reykjavik, Iceland**

**Red Zone**

"Alright here's the deal," Ahsoka said via communications channels to the Firestorm Taskforce units that were being deployed, she was flying a Firehawk once more, "You all heard about the explosion at the TCN site in North Africa. The GDI Council has ordered a proper debris disposal system to avoid anything more like that, we can't afford it. The only place where we can get what they need the old GDI Iceland Spaceport in Reykjavik. Sounds easy, right? Go in, grab the goods, get out. Wrong."

The two Firehawk squadrons flew in low, escorting the Harriers carrying the Firestorm soldiers and vehicles. "We need to retake this damn spaceport and secure it so they can assemble the solution, what they're calling a _GST_ or _Global Stratospheric Transport_. One problem though… this is Clan Ordo territory."

In other words, it was under the ownership of a not-too-friendly clan of mutants, who hated both GDI and Nod and had been evolving into a unique culture due to little outside contact, even with the Forgotten. At least, this is as far as InOps had been able to determine about them. This mutant clan, like most, deployed older technology, mostly GDI and Nod Second Tiberium War weaponry, using salvaged MCVs to deploy bases and encampments to maintain such equipment. According to the tales told about them by the Forgotten, they had reclaimed a Viking legacy, and were strong warriors who held honor highly. The theories by several psychologists is that the sudden loss of civilization left them vulnerable to sweet honeyed words, and the founder of Clan Ordo was some mutant, a powerful one, who went under the name 'Odin', reference to one of the Viking gods back before Tiberium… almost a millennium ago.

"Our objective is to land, secure the Spaceport, and kick Clan Ordo out of Reykjavik and get them the idea that they aren't to interfere what's going on. We need all of this done by 0600 on the second tomorrow, so the GDI engineers can start building this 'Global Stratospheric Transport' and get it working before the TCN is in anymore danger. First objective is to secure our landing zone. Ajay, I miss anything?"

Ajay, who was on the MCV being carried by another Harrier, answered, "Not of the basic briefing, no, but more exact data, yes. Clan Ordo has a heavy presence here. They got a full base that includes an MCV, a lot of Component Towers, and a good number of Second Tiberium War era Tick Tanks and Wolverines. It's old tech, no threat, right? Wrong. They've retrofitted everything with modernized Tiberium ammunition, so they got Tiberium bullets, Tiberium core missiles and tank shells, whole twenty yards. They have also likely retrofitted the tanks and walkers with more modern technology too, so be cautious."

"Look," Ahsoka said, "Our armor can take it, but just remember when you see old technology, it's still dangerous, if not as much as it used to be. Alright, we're going in, I see the landing zone ahead."

"LZ is hot!" shouted one of the Harrier pilots as anti-air bullet streaks began to fly up.

"Alright Firehawks, let's clear them a landing site!" Ahsoka shouted, diving down into a strafing run. One of the Component Towers was armed with a more powerful Vulcan Chain Gun, which was sending plenty of bullets into the sky at the Firestorm Taskforce. As Ahsoka finished her strafing run, the Harriers landed firing their dual cannons at their targets. Some of the Harriers flew over, and retracted their floors. Zone Troopers were dropping out from the Harrier's opened bay, but they activated their Jump Jets before landing, steadying themselves and landing easily, just not gently. Within a minute, the landing zone was clear with no casualties.

"Bring in the MCV," Ahsoka said as she entered a holding pattern and checking on the Firehawk's systems.

The MCV was landed by a Harrier and deployed, and begun assembling the base. A Refinery was, semi-uselessly, deployed after a power plant was deployed. It might not of been as useful as it used to be, but GDI regulations called for having a method of refining Tiberium in any base, to ensure that they can be self sufficient if necessary and initiate Reclamation, not that they had any luck with it prior to the TCN. _Besides, we need to deploy the new Harvester, or, more appropriately, 'Devourer', to clear us some space. Least Mobius managed to make a smaller version to go onto our Heavy Harvesters._

"This," said a strange, guttural, almost savage voice on the radio; "is Warlord Nero of Clan Ordo. Identify yourselves, trespassers."

"This is the Firestorm Taskforce, GDI. Please stand down. We didn't like having to strafe one of your positions for opening fire on us."

Ahsoka knew quite well that Clan Ordo's leadership had rejected all attempts at diplomacy over the last two days, but she wanted to at least give him a chance… and delay the battle a slight longer so Ajay and Stevenson could get the Firestorm Taskforce's new base up. Several engineers, equipped in Zone Armor, carried several modules, and suddenly, landing pads appeared once the engineers were clear. Ahsoka landed her Firehawk on one of the pads gently. Several crewmen in Tiberium Field Suits rushed over to rearm the aircraft.

"GDI has no authority here. Leave, now!" Nero shouted.

"Afraid we can't do that, humanity is at stake here."

"Alas, this is no longer humanity's territory- eh what… you're building a base? Very well. I accept this challenge."

"Bring it on, pup." Ahsoka responded challengingly, before shutting the channel off. "Alright, Taskforce, we're at Red Alert. We got mutants inbound."

The rearmed Firehawk squadrons launched into the sky and formed into their Shield Trios, and began patrolling.

Sure enough, several squadrons of Orca Fighters were inbound. These old craft were not quite as well equipped as a modern GDI Orca or a Firehawk, but in numbers, they were still deadly.

"Alright squadron, keep them off the base."

The GDI base was coming along well. It already had the basics for maintaining vehicles in the form of a GDI War Factory and enough housing for the soldiers in the form of several barracks complexes. Solid, Tiberium derived titanium-reinforced walls were being set up around the base, with Firestorm Component Towers being deployed. Unlike the old GDI Component Tower of the Second Tiberium War, the Firestorm Taskforce's component tower carried enough materials to assemble an anti-infantry GDI Watchtower, an anti-tank Guardian Cannon, or an anti-air Firestorm Air Defense without aid of a MCV. The last was a new addition. As part of the Firestorm Taskforce's mandate, they were to develop weapons to counter the Scrin. The Firestorm Air Defense was designed with that in mind. Taking the quad cannons of a Slingshot hover vehicle, marrying it to a new chassis, and switching the ammunition from several large belts of tungsten bullets to lasers with a extra-powerful energy source (courtesy of Blue Tiberium crystals), it could shred any aircraft with ease, and could easily match the range of the Scrin's Devastator Warships, even exceed such. It was the Devastators that, when more camp-like, staring contest like battles erupted, were the key to Scrin success. That, and superior numbers coming in nigh infinitely. With the counter to the long range bombardment, the Firestorm Taskforce could protect humanity with much greater ability. _Amazing how 20-20 hindsight develops weapons… the trick is to be able to prepare for what really is coming._

Ahsoka did a barrel roll as two rockets sped past her, shaking her out of her thoughts on the Firestorm Taskforce's arsenal. They shot past harmlessly and detonated at their maximum range. She then got behind a pair of Orca Fighters and shot them down, noting the GDI insignia was scrapped off and replaced with tribal symbols. _To think humans can wield such advanced weapons of war even when society has gone down the refresher…_ Ahsoka thought as she dodged a barrage of rockets from another group of Orca Fighters.

The dogfight ended as the Firehawk squadrons shot down the last Orca Fighter.

"We got ground units inbound, mostly Tick Tanks and Wolverines." Ajay reported, "Careful, I'm reading the Wolverines have had an anti-air upgrade, they can, albeit poorly, shoot back from the skies. Another Steel Talon Orbital Bombardment Satellite is coming online now, but it'll take a while before we can call on it properly, Mitchell has the horn on the others because he's knee deep in Seps."

"Understood Ajay." Ahsoka responded as she dived down towards her target, a spearhead of Tick Tanks. The Tick Tanks suddenly burrowed into the ground, partially, and aimed up at her… and opened fire.

She barely had time to pull out of her dive, and even then, she took several direct hits.

"Ajay, Tick Tanks have been modified with AA as well!" Ahsoka shouted as the barrage continued to follow her, her Firehawk trailing smoke as one of its fuel lines were hit.

"Damn it," Ajay said, "Alright, hang on, we got defenses up. Get inside the base; those things are going to tear you apart."

"Got it. Firehawks; pull out and RTB." Ahsoka, after using a barrel roll to dodge another barrage of surprising anti-air, turned and put full throttle towards the base, using constant maneuvers to avoid getting hit.

Activating the VTOL system, the Firehawk came, quite roughly, flying down to Earth. Ahsoka grunted as the G-force of her landing shoved her up into her crash webbing. Firestorm Taskforce Titians and Zone Troopers moved up to the makeshift walls, targeting and taking out the incoming Wolverines and Tick Tanks with their Rail Guns. Several drones appeared near the helipads from boxes, and began repairing the Firehawks as they reloaded their missiles.

"**Orbital Slug Ready."** EVA registered.

"Ajay, you got the horn on it." Ahsoka delegated, "I'm probably going to be a bit busy with Ordo."

"Got it."

An orbital slug came flying down to Earth, blasting a group of the Tick Tanks and old Wolverines. Finally, a savage roar echoed across the radio waves.

"You have proven yourself capable, Commander… and earned my respect. Out of such respect, it is a challenge that I shall now issue to you." The Warlord Nero said, "A Duel to the Fatal End, you are quite capable of answering it. We will not use weapons of advanced warfare, but our skill of arms… of old arms. Blade and shield we will fight… and die, if necessary."

Ahsoka put the response channel on mute, "Ajay, opinion? I'm inclined to accept."

"Probably should," Ajay said, "He's got reinforcements coming in from the Clan Ordo main base. As I recall, such duels put the main conflict on hold, and the terms are often honored."

"But we aren't going to… disengage easily."

"No," Ajay said, "But it'd get us some breathing room, and even if he'd back off on such words, give us time to dig in."

"I accept," Ahsoka responded, turning Nero's channel back on, "The terms are as follows, loser has his or her forces leave the battlefield, not to return for at least a grace period of one year, obviously granted the time to remove equipment and leave. If we win, the city of Reykjavik will be needed for GDI to use." However, she left something unsaid… while she, despite Ajay's plan, meant the words, she knew that if she went down, (_unlikely as it is,_ she thought briefly), she'd be unable to ensure that she kept her word… Clan Ordo had an honor system different then most others, expecting a leader's immediately doable orders to be honored after their death. This might have been why Ajay suggested such… but she at least would mean the words… for all the good it would do if she was defeated.

"Winner takes all. I shall accept that." Nero responded, "You will find that we shall both use blades of equal quality. You may choose several smiths of weapons to examine such if you so wish and I shall have some of my own to the same. The challenged gets the superior blade, assuming there are only small, rudimentary differences, as our honor dictates. If there is a major difference, new blades shall be provided of equal or near equal quality."

"Right. Let's duel on the small hill near my forces' base; you may bring an honor guard."

"Very well, in sight of both armies. The hill you speak of has the remains of an old Tiberium Spike on it, correct?"

"Yes," Ahsoka answered.

"Good, it's equidistant, and both armies may see their leaders duel. Our forces may remain at their base besides a small honor guard."

With that, the transmission cut.

"You're seriously going through with this?" asked Azami, one of the Firehawk pilots.

"Best shot to get this done bloodlessly," Ahsoka said as she landed the Firehawk, "Besides, I might be able to impress them enough that they'll give up their anti-GDI drives, and well, winning by their terms is better in the long run."

"If you say so Commander, but when they double cross us, I got my machine guns ready."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Ahsoka responded as she popped the canopy of her Firehawk open.

XXXXX

**30 Minutes Later**

Ahsoka was clad, as per the rules, in only a lightly-protecting GDI tunic, which covered her body fully. The most protection it would offer her would be against light cuts and scratches, but otherwise, she might as well of gone out stark naked and armored with a thimble. At the center, the mutants had carved a circle around the combat area, and two hand-and-a-half swords ('bastard' swords, as Ahsoka recalled), and two large bucklers were brought out. The mutant warlord, Nero, was preparing, choosing to wear more; exposing attire; just pants really. _Then again,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _they're all basically tougher in the skin… probably enough to match GDI composite armor easily in the stronger ones… like the one I'm facing…_ Nero was a seven foot tall mutant, likely tall as a human as well, and was so well muscled Ahsoka could easily say he was all bone and muscle, and no fat.

The two walked into the middle, both then took up the weapons wordlessly, testing them and getting a feel, and choosing their weapons. Ahsoka tried to use the shield, but she realized quickly that she was not strong enough to wield both the shield and the bastard sword at once. She left the shield were it was.

"Why didn't you take the shield?" asked one of the battle-hardened Zone Troopers.

"Too big," Ahsoka said, "I pretty much need two hands to use this blade in combat anyways… least he didn't say no about anything we got from… mutations." _Ah yes…_ Ahsoka thought grimly,_ the lie that keeps me from being shot on sight for being an non-human… I'm a 'mutant' who got hit with a 'weird strain' of Tiberium… though given how some of the mutants exhibit interesting powers, like Tratos or Dread Milano's precognition, covers The Force quite well…_

"Well, you use a single blade a lot anyways in the grunt work… though that one could deflect rounds at least…"

"Well, that ability would be a bit redundant, given we aren't going to be shooting each other."

One of the elder mutants gave a call… and Ahsoka knew what it was, even if she couldn't understand it. She stepped into the circle, giving the sword a twirl. It was heavier than a lightsaber by far, and the fact that she now had the weight of the blade to contend with meant that she would have to also deal with the counter momentum, meaning more strength needing to be put into a single blow. However, the blade was of Tiberium manufacture… a lightweight manufacture at that.

_Now this is starting to sound worse… even if it's lighter than a normal one, it's still going to throw my balance off…_

"Begin!" echoed across the hill, and Nero's face began to shake, spittle coming out of his mouth, as Ahsoka held her guard, ready to intercept his charge… then suddenly, some of the Tiberium crystals in Nero began to glow with a new malevolence… and he rushed forward, carrying both weapons effortlessly, and in a rage, rushed at her, his first swing barely being caught by her sword. She leapt out of the way as he kept rushing at her, every time they made contact, Ahsoka came off worse, barely avoiding loss of limb, but her blade was steadily becoming worse, and soon, it wouldn't matter at all because it'd be pounded to wreckage.

Suddenly however, Nero began to pant… and tire… but still alert. Ahsoka realized then that if she was going to win, she had to hit him _hard_ when he entered such a state. She saw that the shield she neglected to pick up was in the middle still… reaching out with the Force, she lifted it up, and hurled it at Nero with stunning force. Surprised, Nero could not react to avoid getting hit and stumbled backwards and collapsing as it hit, shattering in his chest, and leaving long cuts… but the Tiberium radiation quickly healed the wounds… but a few of the metal shards were imbedded in his chest despite that, and as the wounds closed, would remain inside until surgically removed. He saw her as he pushed himself back up quickly, and began to rage again, entering a similar state to when he began. She kept her distance, avoiding his blows, knowing quite well that any hit and she'd loose an arm, a leg, or perhaps her life in one, brutal slash.

Finally he tired again, and Ahsoka leapt over, the sword coming down as she turned, and it sliced across his back neatly, leaving a long, jagged gash across his back. He stumbled forward, snarling as he turned around. Ahsoka however, lost her grip on the sword as it fell, and Nero hurled his shield at her. It hit her square in the chest, but not as a spear tip as Nero had hoped, but like a giant platter. It knocked the wind out of her lungs and the sword out of her hand and sent her quite close to the edge of the circle… to leave the duel was automatic forfeit of both terms, and life. She rolled out of the way to her left as Nero, in yet another rage, leapt up high, higher than most humans could, even Jedi, and came down with force, shattering the area where Ahsoka had been mere seconds earlier, causing the ground to shake ever so slightly and the Tiberium glacier they were on to crack. Above, an Ion Storm began to gather…

Ahsoka, now weaponless, had one other option… and a bold opportunity. Drawing energy from the nearby Tiberium, she focused, letting instinct take over… _It's been a while since I did this… last time I redirected that stuff, I was in Berne and didn't even know what I was doing… but I can consciously do it now… I hope._

Electricity began to arc along her arms as Nero charged again… a bolt of Ion Lightning struck the area… another one then came down, and Ahsoka was ready. Putting her arm out, she caught the bolt, ionized electricity speeding through her body… but she focused, channeling it away from her heart, down along through her stomach and up through the other arm… she shouted as the pressure began to build too much for her to keep contained, she then sent the blast directly as his head, blasting him back as the lightning rode through his body, he stumbled out of the ring, and rolled down the hill, to the gasps of the mutants watching. Ahsoka panted, collapsing, as the Ion Storm began to move away in its typically murderous streak.

"She… yes… she has won." Said the same mutant who had announced the battle's beginning… "She has won using Tiberium based powers. Impressive ones, at that."

Nero stumbled back up the hill, head downcast. He approached Ahsoka, but made no efforts to fight… and kneeled, head open to one, swift cut… or snapping.

"Please," Nero whispered, "Make it quick."

Ahsoka shook her head, pulling him up. "Hey, nothing says we can't be civilized about this. I won, so please, disengage your forces. As the victor, I chose to let you live, now, honor the agreement."

Something, perhaps recognition, perhaps anger, but something registered in his eyes. "Very well… perhaps the words of the Forgotten are true after all… that there can be cooperation."

"Let your people make the choice of weather to join them or not," Ahsoka said, "If you're thinking what I think you are."

Nero nodded, "We allow GDI to deploy their base. We cede the land around the old Spaceport and city, on my honor."

"That's all that can be asked," Ahsoka said, "And strictly what we came here for. If other Warlords choose to be… aggressive, I won't hold it against you."

Nero gave a nod of appreciation, and turned back towards his fellows… one of them pulled a modern rifle out and aimed…

Ahsoka barely had time to react; she used the Force to shove Nero to the ground, barely keeping the bullet from hitting him in the chest…

But the bullet flew past him… and into Ahsoka, falling down into her chest as the poorly made bullet suffered drag… her lack of proper body armor meaning she had no protection… the bullet lodged itself in her ribcage, the force enough to push her down to the ground. Several more bullets flew over her and towards the Zone Troopers.

The Zone Troopers who came as an honor guard were quick on the uptake, shooting the sniper with their Rail Guns as his second and beyond shots dinged harmlessly on their armor. Nero was up, shouting, trying to calm the other mutants down… Ahsoka was bleeding, the bullet sticking out…

_This… is…_ She fought the urge to scream, focusing… the Tiberium glacier she was on was easily enough to heal the wound… but the trick would be getting the bullet out… she drew enough energy from the glacier to keep her alive… but not to close the wound, for if she did, she would imbed it within her body until it was removed, likely through surgery, and the risk was too great for her to do the full process.

"Hang on Commander," said a Zone Trooper who skidded to a halt and kneeled next to her, "Got a medic en route… that Nero fellow's good on his word… he's ordering his men to stand down… some aren't complying… he's asking us to stay out of the fight unless attacked, he says it's internal conflict…"

"Only help," Ahsoka winced in pain again, "if he asks."

A Harrier touched down, Zone Troopers coming out and pointing guns, but not opening fire, making it clear to keep back. A medic, in a Tiberium Field Suit rather than Zone Armor, sprinted out, two more medics behind him with a stretcher.

"Get her on, we gotta operate!" shouted the medic frantically, not wanting to be the doctor that got a prominent GDI commander killed.

"Just get the bullet out…" Ahsoka said, inhaling sharply as another wave of pain exploded.

"Ma'am…"

"Just do it!"

The medic hesitated… and, pulling out a set of medical pliers, and, with precision and skill, but also caution and steadiness, pulled the bullet out. Ahsoka let herself draw on as much of the Tiberium glacier as she could, using it to speed up a Jedi Healing Trance she was fond of using to keep herself alive... and had to, during her battle at the end of the Third Tiberium War in the vicious duel between herself and two Scrin leaders, Reaper-17 and Travler-59 (which she considered to be quite odd names).

The medic was likely gaping, but Ahsoka couldn't tell as he had a faceplate… "How…"

"I know a number of tricks," Ahsoka slyly said, figuring he was a newer addition to the Firestorm Taskforce.

One of the Zone Troopers however, finished for her, "She's a mutant, a very _tough_ one, despite her size… and well, get her in a Tiberium filled area and she can draw on that radiation like it's the water in the Holy Grail itself and kick a lot of ass."

"I see…" the medic said skeptically, "Very well. I'll still have to check you in the medical station, to make sure that you don't require… further examination."

"That's fine," Ahsoka said, pushing herself up, "Standard procedure, and well, I like to be sure."

XXXXX

**One Month Later**

**September 8****th****, 2063**

**GDI Spaceport**

**Reykjavik, Iceland**

**Red/Yellow Zone, Intermixed**

Sarah was looking in awe as the first Global Stratospheric Transport, the _GST Methuselah, _took flight. With the GST, the GDI/Nod alliance would be able to deal with the super-hazardous waste from the TCN by keeping it in space, where it would not be able to potentially mutate into a more deadly, TCN resistant, strain. They'd also be able to process it onboard the GST, and refine it into reusable form, salvaging Tiberium from the waste and sending it down to GDI bases for proper use.

Over the last year and month, Sarah had served at a number of posts with the Firestorm Taskforce, but she had not accompanied Ahsoka to retake the Reykjavik, as she was in charge of ensuring a series of TCN nodes in Scotland, and later Germany were brought online, having to remove dug in, violent mutant clans, but she was lucky: she had aid from the Forgotten there, Ghostalker himself, in fact. The nodes had been completed, and another officer was chosen to cycle her out for a while as she had a few days leave for rest and recreation.

Ahsoka, meanwhile, had been in charge of protecting Reykjavík while the GST was being assembled, but few attacks came, thanks to Nero and his influence within Clan Ordo, but some fights came, unfortunately. On the other hand, the few attacks did not deal much damage and failed to disrupt the GST construction.

"It's a first step," Ahsoka said, sitting down next to her, feet dangling. Sarah took a seat as well on the roof, letting her legs dangle. They watched Rex and the other GDI Generals making a press statement… Kane was with them to, as a number of Nod technologies had been involved as well, such as the self-sealing armor… Ahsoka could sense both elation for the TCN in the crowd… and hatred for Kane.

Sarah gave Ahsoka a slight smile, "Surprised they don't have you down there, you let that happen."

Ahsoka chuckled, "Nah, you know I'm camera shy."

"Don't blame you."

Several minutes past as the _Methuselah_ entered orbit with its unfortunately green crew…

"So, what's next?" Sarah asked.

"Well, the Alliance needs to reclaim the areas lost in Africa, then I guess they're going to start in the Eastern Seaboard for TCN construction, get North America going properly and not just holding out position."

Sarah nodded. "Sure you heard about what 'Councilor' Stark is up to now."

"Yeah, I heard. The Orca aces in the Taskforce aren't taking it lightly. 'Orca Innovation Project'? OK, so the Orca isn't quite up to scratch due to a lack of primary anti-air ability… but come on, that's not very difficult to repair, just give the thing proper air-to-air rockets like the Firehawk as an option, or maybe put the machine gun back on like the 2040 models had until the Council arranged for them to be scrapped to save, what, a hundred creds per Orca? Shouldn't need a giant committee and a whole ton of resources for such a simple fix."

"Well, you know politicians. Never small and realistic, always grandiose and Homericly epic."

"Only too well, they've pretty much overridden the Generals on the matter, in fact, there's _no_ military advisers on their committee, it's strictly civilians, for a, as the blowhards on the council put it, 'unbiased new generation of the Orca'." Ahsoka snorted.

"Wow. Do they even know how stupid their argument is? Civilian designed equipment rarely stands up to the demands of battle, that's part of why the Steel Talons are important. Last civilian based combat weapon that entered the GDI military service was the scent-activated smart bomb to allow Attack Dogs back into the arsenal… and that blew up in our faces, literally."

"Don't remind me," Ahsoka responded, sighing, "The Talons aren't even going to be able to test it and design it further, in fact, they're being told to, and I quote Stark on this, "Fuck off". Hope the idiocy doesn't cost GDI pilots their lives…"

"Better not, because there's plenty of Snipers in the corps who know a lot of Orca pilots, you know how often they work together to mark the big targets for the Juggs."

"Speaking of snipers, there's a new line of reportedly cheap and mass-producible, but still effective, Zone Armor coming out, and they're going to start outfitting everyone with it, including non-combat personnel. Sacrifices the jump jets and emergency first-aid by default, but they say it's worth the cost for the versatility it'll offer us, and the soldiers are welcome to get Jump Jets and medical kits retrofitted if their commanders can get them. The Taskforce has been charged to create a new Zone Armor suit for Snipers, and perhaps the Grenadiers, though the same people on the so-called 'OIP' are saying 'drop the grenadiers, no city left for them to be handy'."

"Well, there will be city once Tiberium is gone. My advice for the snipers? Take a leaf out of the Zone Raider line, just crop it smaller and tighter, maybe remove some of the systems like the additional scanners, heck, maybe even remove personal radar. I mean, Snipers work without that stuff anyways, so it isn't that big of a difference as long as the training regiment is mostly the same."

"Yeah, probably going to be all skin tight, but I have to check with the R&D boys on the details and talk with some of the snipers in the Taskforce. Anyways, first new suits will be produced for the Raider and Trooper, obviously, but they're also making a new suit for our Missile Troopers, calling it a 'Zone Defender'… I saw the prototype suit and its launchers… they pretty much ripped Kane's 'Deathless' cybernetic rocket soldiers… I really can't look at them without being reminded of how many GDI pilots got shot down by the Deathless, the origin of this Zone Defender armor."

"Civilian organized?"

"Yep, which would explain the lack of imagination. The suit actually works pretty well. Sure would explain why they had the guts to mess with the Orca in such a big committee."

XXXXXX

**One and a Half Months Later**

**October 22****nd****, 2063**

**Crack of Dawn**

**Appalachian Mountain Range**

**Red Zone**

"Commander! We got a problem!"

"What is it?" Ahsoka asked, groaning as she got up out of bed, caught in her under tunic and rushing to get her armor on. She was assigned to a small base overlooking a large valley, which was a mildly-converted Orca base retrofitted to house Zone Infantry. The valley housed a TCN Hub, which would connect to the various nodes in the area, and eventually connect them back to the primary hub in New York, so it warranted a base… unfortunately, GDI and Nod were stretched so thin between mutant raids and the occasional Nod separatist group that they had to split their forces.

"Got a bunch of baseline Nod retreating near the pass, they need air cover. Being ambushed by a lotta mutants!"

"Got it, I'm on my way. Prep the Orcas."

"Roger that. Should I…"

"Yes, I'll take direct flight."

Ahsoka rushed to the landing pads, and hopped into an Orca and began a preflight checklist, and activated her EVA uplink. "Ajay! SITREP!"

Ajay rushed onto the screen, caught in his underpants, "Just got word myself, it's my sleep hour… right, you got Nod units coming, but they can't make a stand unless they reach the main base at the coast. Cover 'em best you can, I know all you got is your Orca squadron, a few Pitbulls and the security Zoners, but still, we can't afford massive casualties. By 'we', I mean humanity."

"Got it, we'll do our best, but we need reinforcements ASAP."

"Working on A-SAT, offline again damn it…" with that, Ajay began typing furiously into his computer and working on Battle Control.

"Commander, you're clear for liftoff!"

Ahsoka engaged the engine, and the Orca took off. She flew it towards were the Nod forces would be retreating. She overheard their chatter.

"Militant group seven, we aren't gonna- AGEIIEIIEEHEGA!!"

"Charlie Five is down! She's down!"

"In the name of Kane, keep going, keep- AGH!"

"Kane, don't forget us- ghahahahahahYEACOHG!"

"I didn't sign up for this! Ow ow HOT! Aie!"

Ajay then cut in, "They'll be in range shortly. Local mutant clans banded together, they're using some old Attack Bikes and Buggies retrofitted with rockets to harass the rear. Take 'em out and cover the retreat best you can. A-SAT is offline again, damn Ion Storms…"

"Got it. Alright squadron, form up. Use your ammo wisely. We've been retrofitted with machine guns to try and offset the so-called Orca Innovation Program, but they aren't the best weapon and we only have so many clips. Show 'em why the Orca is one of GDI's best."

She heard some mutterings on the radio, and chimed in, "Hey, listen, I don't like having to save noddies either, but they're our allies right now, and we need them, like it or not."

The first group of Nod militants came out of the tunnel, and kept coming out in a long stream. Ahsoka noted that every one of them was covered in a green miasma cloud… _Tiberium Infusion maybe… to think they used my DNA for that… it's… scary, knowing you're the original source for such a sickly concoction. _She didn't want to think how gross the reported drink tasted… though it was yet known how it was put into the body. Some believed it an injection, while others believed it was a potion-like substance drank.

Four minutes passed as more Orcas were loaded and launched, and long range weaponry set up to create as much of a hailstorm as possible for the mutants pursuing.

Finally, the tail end of the Nod forces came into view, being picked apart by pursuing mutants.

"Let's get 'em!" Ahsoka said, pushing the throttle forward and coming in, firing the chain gun and, with rationed precision, launching rockets down, taking out the big killers. The other Orcas flew in as well, releasing their payloads as well. By the end of their volley, the pursuit forces were blunted.

"Woowee, that's showin' 'em!" shouted a Nod militant on the channel. "Which GDI squadron is it?"

One of the female Orca pilots chimed in, "Let's just leave it at we're angels… with attitude."

Ahsoka pulled out, and rushed back to reload, as the Orca's new chain gun was not quite suitable for use against armored targets, and tanks were coming up. When she arrived, the GDI Pitbulls stationed at the base were shelling the mutants with their mortars, but that was the best they could get unless the mutants came too close to the cliff edge, then they would suffer a barrage from Zone Troopers and Raiders. As soon as Ahsoka's Orca was reloaded, she took off again, and began strafing positions, using the chain gun to pick off visible pilots, and rockets to take out more armored vehicles.

"Thanks for the cover, Group A is clear, no casualties from the retreat!"

"Group B here, almost clear, no casualties from the retreat!"

"Group C, light damage from the retreat."

"Group D, lost a good chunk of our guys, but we were the tail of this whole thing. We'll make them face Kane's Wrath for that!"

"Keep going," Ahsoka said, cutting such ideas off, "You aren't clear yet!"

The Orcas repeated their runs, firing everything they had to cover the Nod forces. An ironic twist… as in the past, GDI would have destroyed such a Nod force with the same things they were now using to protect them.

"Watch out! Quad cannons!" shouted Ajay, who was still on Battle Control.

Ahsoka yawed to the right hard as a torrent of bullets came flying up. The local mutants had salvaged Slingshot AA systems and married them to flatbed trucks, creating a stable Ion Storm capable AA vehicle with heavy power. The stream of bullets came flying up, Ahsoka having to weave and bob to avoid being ripped to shreds. Scorpion Tanks from the retreating Nod turned their turrets to fire back at the incoming Quad Cannons, but with no luck.

Ahsoka then got a lock, a hazy lock, but a lock none the less, and fired a rocket. The rocket sped down, impacting the truck right under the actual cannon, blowing it off. The Pitbull mortars were shifting their aim, focusing on the quad Cannons. Two Orcas were shot down, but most of the others had pulled out to avoid the hailstorm.

Several bullets streaked across the belly of Ahsoka's Orca, the attack absorbed by the ceramic armor, and she maneuvered out of range of the last Quad Cannon, out of ammo. She landed, and repair drones at the base were working on fixing the ceramic armor and reloading the Orca. The last Quad Cannon exploded as the GDI pilots finished reloading.

Lifting off again, Ahsoka targeted the lead vehicles, salvaged APCs with the gun of an old M1 Abrams married to the top, creating a light vehicle… with poor armor, subpar of the Nod Scorpion tank. Ahsoka shot it with a single rocket and it exploded, the modernized munitions proving brutally efficient against the salvaged vehicle… but Nod militant forces were rarely so outfitted, and when outnumbered… they rarely fared well.

After ten more minutes of constant strafing runs, the mutants broke off, but not before destroying most of Group D, leaving a trail of dead bodies… or, more accurately, the uniforms they wore, as the bodies decayed in the Tiberium.

"Damn you, GDI!" shouted someone on the radio… a mutant had decided to insult. "You dare interfere with our crusade against the blunts?"

"Think you got your ID's mixed up," Ahsoka responded, cutting him off, and tuning to Ajay, "How bad was Nod hit?"

"Pretty bad, but not because of your efforts. Maybe a battalion kissed dirt in total, but most of it was from the ambush they were running from. No Black Hand or Cyborgs in this division, interestingly enough."

"Common militants huh? I thought Kane had forsaken such tactics… and they aren't possible with humanity's… decline."

"Don't remind me. Apparently it's the last proper militant force, they have to deploy all at once for their usual tactics to work, so they're a one-off group."

"They really should spend time getting proper equipment," Ahsoka commented, "Tiberium Infusion, I presume? I noticed none of them melted down to dust in the Tiberium they ran through, but dusted on death."

"Yep. Everyone of 'em are infused according to the scans. Guess they had too… though some of them are pretty old, and got it way back in Tib War Three…"

Ahsoka recalled seeing some of the Militants having a very sick looking green miasma cloud hanging around them… sicker than usual, that is… and at a far more advanced age then they should have been at. _Stuff must be the reverse of what Tiberium did to me… that's… a scary thought._

"Figures. We'll cover them as much as we can to Alliance territory."

Ahsoka realized Ajay hadn't had a chance to leave his station when the mutant raid was in progress…

"And Ajay, I probably shouldn't talk, but… get some stanging clothes on."

XXXXX

**Four Months Later**

**March 15****th****, 2064**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Yellow Zone**

Ahsoka took her seat in the recently set up rows of chairs. The 'Orca Innovation Project' (OIP) was 'complete', and the new Orca would be tested today. Although Ahsoka's cunning use of the Orca had given the OIP minor pause, they discarded most of it as luck, and cited things like how 'if they didn't need to rearm every barrage of rockets, many more would of lived' and 'the armor wasn't properly up to those Quad Cannons'. Ahsoka was honestly irritated. The Firestorm Taskforce, Steel Talons, ZOCOM, RAID, and baseline GDI forces (in other words, the all of the GDI armed forces) had offered repeatedly to at the least advise the project, but the egotistic OIP would have none, telling them to 'stop worrying about your old fantasies and wake up to reality'.

Councilor Stark, the successor to Redmond Boyle as GDI Treasurer, and one of his political lackeys who had enough brains (or luck) to win an election, stood on a podium just in front of the underground hanger where the so-called "Orca Mark IV" was stored… and no GDI Military forces were allowed to see it.

"Great," Ahsoka whispered to General Mitchell, who was also there for the 'occasion' as it was being done at his base, and sat next to her. "Here comes the chief egotist."

"The Talons are already prepared to pick that thing apart and make it a real Orca."

"Let's hope we don't have to."

Stark gave a too-wide smile and said, "Generals, Commanders, pilots of the Global Defense Initiative, I am proud to announce that today, on the Ides of March, what had long been the Achilles Heel, the Brutus, the weakness of the GDI Air Corps, will be forever rectified."

Several loud, hacking coughs were heard from some of GDI's top aces, such as (now) Colonels Horn and Jace, and the famed Commando and occasional Orca pilot Nick Seymour "Havoc" Parker.

With a dramatic drum roll done by a none-to-pleased group of GDI soldiers who took up musical talents, the underground hanger opened…

And what came out shocked the GDI pilots so much that you could have heard Tiberium-crystal pin drop.

A massive, _**ugly**_ machine, resembling a metal coffin with many, box-like add-ons that looked like it was designed to accommodate some weird, hundred-head-feet-and-legged creature, with pathetic engine design, guns placed so that they'd very easily blow part of the new 'Orca' off and generally, to any fighter pilot, it looked like a oversized dump truck on the ground rather than anything that could fly.

"THIS?" Mitchell shouted, appalled, "Is the new Orca?! God Almighty! This doesn't even look like a_ GDI_ VEHICLE AT ALL! Never mind such a storied linage!"

Stark stared Tiberium-poisoned-and-made daggers at Mitchell, and said, "Be silent, General. Your opinions on what is 'new and advanced' are laughable, as you don't develop anything these days… you experiment with outdated technology."

The pilots began to murmur amongst themselves… Ahsoka could feel the general mood… disgust, anger…

"We won't use it." Colonel Horn finally said. "We refuse to fly it."

"EXCUSE ME?" Stark shouted, appalled. "You won't go into combat missions in your trusty Orca Mark Four?"

"Orca my ass, knucklehead! That thing is a dump truck with a pretty name, a stolen pretty name!"

The pilots began to shout… and Ahsoka could tell they would steal the old Orcas from the depths of any hell rather than pilot the flying boulder.

"Silence! I WILL HAVE SILENCE!" Stark shouted, "You _insolent fools!_ Be silent! You do not choose what you fly!"

Suddenly, a battered soda can flew into Stark's face, breaking, and not only did the brittle metal cut him, but what looked like several pilot's collection of spit splattered all over his face.

"SECURITY!" shouted Stark as he ducked away as more makeshift projectiles flew at him… but no one stirred to stop it.

"Good GOD," Mitchell snarled, appalled, "And they spent half of the GDI treasury building that thing… no wonder why they couldn't afford to start working on the Australian TCN! This thing…" Mitchell was at a loss, and he stormed off.

XXXXX

**Five days Later**

**March 20****th****, 2064**

**GDI Admin Building**

**Manchester, UK**

**Yellow Zone**

"Director! Those insolent pilots need discipline!" Stark shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

In the last five days, several GDI pilots (really, civilian pilots who got the job from Stark) had tried to fly the Orca Mark IV… but anything brought the flying rocks down, and any of Stark's civilian pilots-turned 'military' died, creating, for the first time, a 0 to Who-wants-to-count kill-loss ratio for a GDI division. Pilots of Orcas had gone on strikes; refusing to fly… it was quite close to a major scandal that could, was, crippling GDI. Without the Orca, GDI would have no proper rapid response, albeit limited by ammunition. Already its effects were being seen as Nod Separatists began conducting organized hit-and-run raids, taking advantage of the chaos that Stark had caused.

"Councilor Stark…" General Locke, who had finally arrived from the field, "The complaints the pilots are putting are well founded… that _thing_ is no GDI vehicle… it's a salvaged, poorly made piece of trash."

"You know how much we spent on that thing? The ungrateful scum!"

Rex snarled, "We _told_ you to have military advisors on that damn Innovation Project. Now you're coming to me and demanding that I ask men to fly those suicidal deathtraps into combat situations? Over all our dead bodies, starting with _yours_."

Locke turned to Mitchell, "General Mitchell… we all agree, they did raise valid points about the Orca four months ago… but Stark just wasted half the treasury on this… failure. I want you to listen to some of the advice."

"Now _see here!_" Stark shouted, "That Orca Mark IV just needs a little tune up, that's all!"

"The fake Orca doesn't need a 'little' tune up… it needs to be completely rede-fucking-signed!" Mitchell shouted back. The council chambers quickly degraded into shouting matches. It ended only when Rex pulled out his dual pistols and shot several rounds into the ceiling, leaving several scorch marks.

"Councilor Stark," Rex finally said, "You've nearly crippled GDI with your actions."

Rex waited a few minutes, letting the words sink in.

"Because of you, half of GDI's treasury, critically needed elsewhere, is wasted, and now we've lost a key part of our arsenal when it's most needed. You've failed. Get out of my sight, and if I see you back here, I'm going to sic the Orca pilots and their sniper friends on you. And they are _very_ angry at you… to be mild about it."

Stark was appalled, his mouth working ridiculously fast as he tried to think of a legitimate retort. Rex had just invoked the one power as GDI director he never invoked… forced removal. However, it would now be Rex's job to find a suitable replacement. _I'll try the quartermasters… most of them have basics in economics. I hate having to go cold like that, but it had to be done. We need the Orca, and if we start producing that flying boulder, we might as well try and build space cruisers out of woven baskets._

Finally, one of the other councilors said, hesitantly after Rex's outburst, "Director… what's to be done about the Orca?"

"Let's not let the data go to waste… Mitchell, I want the Steel Talons to prepare a new Orca. Use the data from all our Orca models, including that monstrosity. See if you can't find a superior balance. Blueprint work for now, the budget was wasted, so you have only what resources are donated from other sources or from the Steel Talons' discretionary resources. When you have several designs, bring them up and we'll put funding in officially."

Mitchell nodded, "In the meantime, the Orca pilots fly the old Orcas?"

"That's correct," Rex said, "And put some of their leading pilots on your advisors for the next generation Orca… find what was wrong with the previous versions, and build around keeping the old style, but adapt it to the modern battlefield."

XXXXX

**Three Weeks Later**

**April 12****th****, 2064**

**Firestorm Taskforce Forward Command Post**

**Boston Harbor**

**Boston, Massachusetts, USA**

**Red Zone**

"Zone Ranger, reporting for duty." said a man behind Ahsoka. She turned, and gave a nod. The Zone Ranger was the newest, experimental addition to the Firestorm Taskforce. The Ranger was clad in skin tight, one inch thick Zone Armor (in comparison to the two and a half inch thick regular plates and under suit). Armed with a powerful GDI Rail Sniper Rifle, which was recently upgraded from the previous incarnation of it to pierce even cybernetic armor and light vehicles such as the Nod Raider Buggy, the Zone Ranger would be the formidable replacement to GDI Sniper Teams once the next line of Zone Armor officially entered circulation. For now, the Zone Ranger and few experimental Zone Defenders would be in the Firestorm Taskforce. Its armor was skin tight, but rather than the Zone Trooper bulk, which actually gave a person room to maneuver their arms if they did not stuff the suit full of extra padding, the Zone Ranger was so skintight the only layer between them and their armor was their uniform under it.

"Well," Ahsoka said smiling, "You can stop pretending to be a random sniper, Captain McCarthy."

The Ranger nodded, and pulled his helmet off. They were safe inside the sonic-wall encircled communications post. Still a bit scruffy, Alex McCarthy had been a GDI Rifleman assigned to Rex's strike force during the Third Tiberium War. A Steel Talons veteran, McCarthy had been what the original Coric, a Clone Trooper Sergeant, had been to Rex, an always there friend, in the thick of the action. He saw action in Washington DC, Egypt, and Eastern Europe, present when Nod's Temple Prime was hit with the Ion Cannon and the Liquid Tiberium Bomb detonated… McCarthy survived by virtue that Rex held out as long as he could against Boyle's demands and orders to fire. Later, when the Scrin first invaded, he arrived to help them evacuate Munich, then proceeded to help Rex reclaim the Steel Talons primary production facility in Deutschland, Germany, then fought alongside Ahsoka in Cologne, Berne, and later, into Italy for an Italian Job to wipe out a Scrin Tower… and was a decorated veteran of the Battle of Ground Zero, the battle that marked the official end of the Third Tiberium War. Afterwards, be became a Commando, becoming one of two (the other being Ahsoka) who were directly under the command of the Steel Talons. He also was one of the few GDI survivors of the battle at Mount Cheyenne, marking him as one of the toughest GDI soldiers, as several Commandos stationed there had been killed, albeit in a bloody, costly way to Nod.

"Ah, it's fun to get in the role." McCarthy finally said, "So, what's our objective for the next few months?"

"Cleaning out this city so GDI can reopen the local air field and bring in TCN stuff. The GST's are in orbit, yeah, but they're just glorified garbage scows."

"Never mind technologically advanced."

"Won't deny that. Anyways, this place is crawling with a mutant clan that's hostile, we've been scrapping with them all week to try and root them out."

That was pretty true; the battle had reminded her of many such she had been part of during the Clone Wars. The mutants had dug in, entrenched at every corner and were holding the Taskforce back by sheer virtue of numbers. _To think that this new strain just mutated people so badly that they can loose their heads… and others can command them like a Sep officer his droids…_

"So what's the plan, standard urban combat?"

"I wish," Ahsoka said, "They've got some interesting grenades, and are specialists in urban combat. The Raiders we got are on overtime because of the fact that well, they're garrisoning every building and if we want to remove them, charging in frontally doesn't work, so they have to lob sonic grenades inside and blast them out from inside. Worse, we have to be careful of confined spaces; these mutants got a lot of grenade types. We're looking at grenades with toxic Tiberium gas, grenades with Tiberium explosives, sticky grenades, flash bangs… they're really good with them, and almost every one of their soldiers is armed with some sort of grenade."

"Well, Zone Armor is immune to the toxic Tiberium and the visors keep us from being blinded easily, but the explosives and stickies are going to be a problem."

"That's pretty much what's stopped us from doing a whirlwind advance, they pinned us down then used their explosive grenades to blow the armor wide open for the toxin. However…" Ahsoka then send some data to McCarthy's EVA unit, "We did find something that can turn the tide once we get momentum again, all we have to do is clear some room for a Firehawk strike."

McCarthy whistled, "They've sure dug in. Anti-Aircraft sites with a bunch of bunkered rocket soldiers… no way a Firehawk squadron can get past that, even if they dived down from the Stratosphere and boosted out."

"Hence why I called you and your troops up. The city needs to be retaken to set up a TCN Hub, but these mutants are digging in pretty tight."

"Agreed, these are the mutants who repeated the Boston Massacre, right? And the ones that are threatening to do the same to the other major cities?"

"They are," Ahsoka said, "That's why we're going to use a Firehawk strike. I'd of preferred the Ion Cannon, if A-SAT wasn't out again, but they built Ion Disrupters into the main factory that's giving them the ability to fight us, it's mass producing guns, tanks and other vehicles, albeit light tanks only."

"Sounds like they raided an arsenal."

"According to the InOps Database, they got the Ion Disruptors when some of our scientists, who became mutants, betrayed us in exchange for promised freedom from both Nod and GDI, and a hefty check."

"Don't see what good it'd do them if Tiberium covered the world."

"Me neither. Anyways, we'll get some Juggernauts tomorrow, then we can get started proper in taking this city back."

EVA then beeped…

"What is it EVA?" Ahsoka asked.

"**InOps has confirmed that the local mutants are manufacturing Weapons of Mass Destruction within the facility and it is capable of launching them. It must be destroyed within the next two days, for then it will be fully operational. InOps suggests that the targets will be the city of New York, and later, other Alliance protected cities."**

Ahsoka's heart stopped a moment when she thought of what kind of WMD's could be being made in there… and the thought of them being fired on civilians.

XXXXX

**The Next Day**

**April 13****th****, 2064**

**Firestorm Taskforce Forward Base**

**Boston Harbor**

**Boston, Massachusetts, USA**

**Zone N/A**

"Juggernauts ready to go."

"Copy that," Ahsoka responded, "Sending attack coordinates now."

Normally, Ahsoka wouldn't have needed to call Juggernauts for artillery support, since they were at a harbor, a GDI Battleship or five could of covered her. But the Atlantic Ocean had been bled dry, only pockets in the deepest depths still properly watered, leaving much of the GDI Navy literally on dry land. Although ZOCOM had already introduced a powerful mutagen that would duplicate water quickly and allow eventual restoration of the oceans, for now, the GDI navy was dry locked.

_Make due with what you got. There's worse things than not having naval artillery… like a nuclear or chemical missile being shot at you and your men._ She reminded herself.

As shells rained down on the entrenched mutants, the division of Zone Troopers and Raiders readied themselves for the offensive. The plan was simple… in theory. While the Juggernauts bombarded the area, saturating key positions with more shells then Ahsoka could bother counting, the Zone units would, using grenades captured over the last week of fighting, throw the grenades to give them some cover, then rush in and clear out every building, rinse and repeat, then destroy the entrenched bunkers on top of several strategically positioned buildings (or rather, the ruins of them) and signal the Firehawks for a bombing run, and obliterate the main mutant base in Boston, and end the siege.

The Juggernauts opened fire on the targets, the primary defensive positions, which would, while being saturated with explosions, would be fairly useless in coordinating the defensive sectors.

_Now we just have to deny them the ability to use their superior numbers… can do, with difficulty._

Ahsoka leapt over the forward base's wall and readied a grenade, hurling a flash bang into the first occupied building she reached; several other grenades were thrown by Zone Troopers. A couple explosions rocked the building from within, and they rushed in, clearing out the surprised guards, and repeated on the next fortified building before it could respond.

The advance was a whirlwind, the strike not what the enemy commander had expected, within twenty minutes, they had breached over half the city, and kept advancing. GDI Mammoth Tanks were now rolling down the street to engage the mutant scrap tanks, often M1 Abrams or Tick Tanks modified with the guns of a Titian or Predator. With the Zone infantry removing all the hidden and entrenched rocket wielding infantry, the Mammoth Tank advance was only opposed with the little that remained and smaller arms fire.

Ahsoka looked as she saw the first fortified bunker building… she raised her lightsaber, deflecting a surprise laser back at its source…

"Alright, Mammoths, pull back a bit, there's some salvaged Nod lasers set up." Ahsoka ordered as she deflected another laser back.

"**A-SAT back online, you now have access to Orbital Slugs. Mark targets with targeting laser."**

"Just in time!" Ahsoka shouted, "Alright, take cover, I need a laser pointer, stat!"

McCarthy tossed her his sniper rifle, and a Zone Trooper tossed him a spare Rail Gun. Connecting the scope and laser pointer to her EVA, Ahsoka quickly got the pointer working reliably, and took aim at the first bunkerized building. A minute passed…

Suddenly, a massive fireball came down from the sky… so fast it was the blink of an eye, and suddenly, there was a massive explosion at the top, blowing the bunker apart and sending shockwaves through the building, blowing windows out… and mutant soldiers who took cover there, and fell to grim death. The building began to implode and collapse downward as its superstructure was destroyed by the sheer kinetic force.

"Two more to go," Ahsoka said, "Let's move."

Fighting through the next city block, they reached the next overly-fortified building… Ahsoka's wrist EVA however, reported that orbital slugs were delayed… she'd have to take out the others with what she had. Returning McCarthy his sniper rifle, she took out her lightsaber and ordered the Juggernauts to move closer so they could target the other strategic building… then an idea hit her.

"You think you can cause enough chaos from here that I can get up and set some C4 in the building?"

"Maybe," McCarthy said honestly, "Though I'm not sure how much or how reliable it'd be… they have a lot of cover. Maybe we should just let the Juggernauts shell the place?"

However, a series of artillery shells going off from the top of the buildings told them otherwise.

"Nope," Ahsoka said, "They just got some arty pieces… we have to move, now. Cover me!"

"You heard her! Covering fire, focus on the shiners poking their faces out to shoot!"

Ahsoka breathed in deeply, letting her instinct take over…

And she leapt over the barricade, sprinting forward with all her might. Rockets and bullets rained down at her, but she was too swift, the albeit powerful gunners were unable to keep track of her. She rushed inside the building, cutting down the guards at the ground floor, and placed C4 in the smack middle of every wall, and sped out, bullets raining down on her as she ran.

She was suddenly launched forward by an explosion, the remote detonator for the C4 charges flying towards the GDI barricade… McCarthy caught it, and pressed the button.

The building's ground floor exploded outward, flying over Ahsoka as she was caught prone and slamming into the barricade. The rest of the building then came down like a stack of cards, mutant soldiers screaming as they fell out of the tumbling building. Ahsoka felt someone grab her and heard jump jets igniting… things began to blur and she couldn't hear anything, deafened by the collapsing building's explosion.

She then felt her head loll back and hit the hard ground… she blinked, trying to make out what was happening… she could see shapes… but it was all a blur…

Minutes passed… then she heard something loud and clear cut… a whine of powerful, almost supersonic engines…

She saw something, no, many things, high in the sky, fly past at supersonic speeds, but what it was, she couldn't tell…

Then another explosion, barely audible because of how deafened she was, roared… and she heard cheering…

XXXXX

**The Next Day**

**April 14****th****, 2064**

"Alright, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Ahsoka blinked, and said, "Three?"

"Yep. Alright, I think you just got shock, I'd avoid the heavy stuff for a few days and come back every few hours to make sure it doesn't have any lasting affects."

Ahsoka nodded, and left. Over the last few hours, the Taskforce had secured Boston entirely, driving the murderous mutants underground. The Forgotten had also arrived, offering to assist in pursuit, which they did, working with Taskforce patrols and driving the survivors down into and under the ground.

"Hey, Commander!" shouted a communications officer, running down the hall, "Got a message on Secure Channel 9!"

Ahsoka stopped and turned around, "I'll be right there." Secure Channel 9… _One of the Generals then._

In one of the personal communications suites at the base, General Mitchell was waiting for her, in a hologram, that is. Ahsoka activated the privacy screens.

"Commander," Mitchell said, nodding, "Good work with Boston. Now… I need to ask something of you. Off the record."

Ahsoka nodded, turning off the recording device usually placed so GDI commanders could re-watch later communications.

"It's about Coric. He's about old enough to start training… or will be, soon."

Ahsoka blinked, then remembered… GDI allowed those sixteen years of age and above to begin basic training, pending that their parents were well aware, and they maintained their school grades at an average B or above. The latter Ahsoka knew Coric wouldn't have to worry about… yet. But the former… that would be a problem. Rex had been opposed to it; he had told Ahsoka and Mitchell that it was because of the Clone Army back in the Republic, not because of practicality or politics. Because of that and his statement, of avoiding kids getting sent to the battlefield, having him let his kid do it would be a _bad_ political move, and GDI couldn't afford the politicians going for whatever power they could cram when the others showed vulnerability, perceived or not.

"Only one parent has to say yes, right?"

"Yes, but they have to be alive… and well, Sarah is still officially dead."

Ahsoka nodded… "Even if she's leading GDI forces as we speak, she was a confirmed KIA at Mount Cheyenne, and well, Rex doesn't believe she's fully alive yet either… though he's admitting she at least has some free will… but he doesn't think it's that much."

"Well, that basically leaves you, albeit in an unofficial way."

"How so?"

"Well, you'd have to reassign to Manchester and a desk job, but there's nothing that forbids a GDI soldier from helping a sixteen year old or above in basic training, and you're close enough you can mask it as familial stuff, even though you're officially only an adopted daughter of Rex's, it's still a familial bond in legalese."

"Assuming I have the time," Ahsoka responded, "We can cover the TCN now, but I got a feeling that in a few years we won't be able to without the new generation of recruits."

"Point, I just hope enough of the baby boom generation is willing to join GDI, we need the men and women to fill up the ranks. Alright, I'll take him under my wing; I'm in Manchester enough that it'll work. 'sides, I don't want ZOCOM to pick him up. I've seen his scores at the range, he's got the skill to be a Sniper if he wanted to, or, as I hear, a _Zone Ranger_."

Ahsoka gave him a feral grin, "I'd tell you more on that, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Please don't," Mitchell said, "The paperwork would be a nightmare. For me."

A few seconds passed, then Mitchell said in a surprisingly serious tone, "You should be warned, there's a humanist movement starting up, what is it you called it in your home world… 'Human High Culture', right? Anyways, it's anti-Nod because of their fanatical love of Tiberium, yet it accepts Tiberium because of what it's done and how it can be 'enslaved to humanity's will to make our weapons and our homes'… they see anything not human, pure human, as an enemy. Mutants, including the Forgotten, the damned Scrin, cyborgs, the lot of them are seen as targets to be eradicated. Never seen anything like 'em really… purifying a race of '_them_', as they are so bluntly called. The group's got some faithful within GDI, mostly just the weak willed privates and new recruits. No definite leaders for their movements yet, it's too disorganized, but you should be warned, they're getting some minor, but growing, popularity, and taking you out would be a big dent to those saying that mutants… or in your case, non-humans, can coexist in peace."

"They'd bite off more than they could chew fighting me anyways," Ahsoka replied, tapping her lightsaber confidently. "I know a lot of the public is pissed about the Alliance, but can't they put it aside until humanity can _afford_ it, as of now, our manpower is being tapered off, even with the baby boom post Tib War Three, a lot of them might not make it to fill in the gaps or be capable of filling them in, assuming they all join GDI."

"I know. Another thing, the political situation is slowly turning against Rex and well, the GDI Generals in… general. The councilors are capitalizing on that Rex is a soldier, not a scientist or politician, and got it in an 'unofficial' way… you recall how Rex got the job, right?"

"All too well," Ahsoka answered, remembering… he got it mostly because GDI needed a leader with Boyle removed from office… and he was a conquering hero at the time everyone hailed for leading the GDI campaign to victory. "Let me guess, they want to oust him so they can get the credit for the TCN while the military does all the work?"

"Sort of. The one you really need to be alert on is Evelyn Rios. She's on the Council to serve as liaison for the leader of Idris Corporation, the good Doctor Elias Caruso. She's also a bit human-first and distrusts mutants, and General Riggs is giving her his backing, he distrusts the Forgotten as well, since he lost his family and many of his men to mutant raiders. So if these human-high maniacs get too powerful, they might switch over to full and start with you, as you're almost a GDI General in practicality because you lead the Taskforce."

"Thanks for the warning Mitchell."

"You're welcome; I figured you should know, you might get some political flak that I can't cover you from."

"I'll be ready. Commander Tano out."

She cut the transmission, and rubbed her face. Things were going to be reaching crossroads soon, even with the TCN, only 5% of the planet was a Yellow Zone, and none was a Blue Zone. By the end of the year, the 5% would be a Blue Zone and another 5% a Yellow and almost blue, with Red Zones close to Yellow Zone status for the most part, with a few zones, particularly where there used to be Scrin Threshold Towers, would remain Red Zones.

XXXXXXX

**Author's Notes: Again, I need to make a note that a lot of the skipping around the timeline is mostly going to be done in the 'C&C 3' part of the in-between era, once we get some of the Tiberium Twilight units getting filtered into GDI, I think things will begin to get closer and closer together.**

**I'm aware some sources say the GST Methuselah didn't launch until 2071, well, it's supposed to be the first GST, and it was supposed to have been launched early in the TCN Conflict, so its launch date was moved to 2063.**

**The Zone Ranger is a unit that really should be in C&C 4 to be heir to the GDI Sniper Team. I mean, sniper rifles -are- in C&C4 (and Col. James has a freaking sweet one that 1-shots Scorpion Tanks), so there should be a GDI unit weilding such.**

**Yes, the retreating Nod militant force and subsequent GDI cover is a tribute to C&C Generals, where there is a similar mission. I wanted to give the Orca Gunship a last hurrah before being replaced by the Orca Mark V.**

**Another note, the various mutant clans are basically a filler for the fact that Gideon and his Nod separatists **_**shouldn't**_** have the numbers to face the GDI/Nod Alliance properly, yet, so the various rogue mutant clans are a substitute until Gideon would be ready for the nasty multi-way punch to hit GDI and Nod hard.**

**I'm taking some liberties with the lack of long-term character development with Riggs and Rios for plot purposes and to put a little spin on things.**

**Zone number designations, as far as I can tell, aren't being issued officially for the C&C 4 era; which is a disappointment. I'm likely only going to be putting the grade of Zone (so instead of Blue Zone B-2, it would just be Blue Zone).**

**A note… with C&C 4's somewhat sucky campaign ending (plot wise, the GDI final mission was actually pretty awesomely tense); I actually get the freedom to do stuff within canon. Yeah, Kane's actual origins beyond the commonly accepted theory that he's the biblical Cain wasn't confirmed or stated, they just, almost as an aside with Kane's quote of being on Earth for "Thousands of years" and that was that. Yeah, the big revelation in C&C 4 regarding the bald bad$$ is that Kane is implied a bit more heavily to be the biblical Cain… not exactly impressed myself really, but at least Joe Kucan delivered the end well, even if it wasn't the best.**

**The game itself is actually nice, and when you got a 5v5 Offense mash up, it's a mindless (wolf) tank spam with the AI spamming Strikers/Spider Tanks, but it's still fun to watch the explosions ;)**

**I'd also suggest the GDI campaign mechanically, it's a nice bit of fun… oh, and there's **_**finally**_** GDI v GDI in campaign missions, which was, for me, an appreciated change of pace from GDI v Nod. Now we just need that for Skirmish. Nod v Nod is still there, of course (It's in every C&C game, isn't it?)**

**Thanks to Andy and jangotat2 for the reviews, I think that'll let the two Wolverines Mitchell has (succeeded) in getting to reproduce to survive the fanfic :P**

**Again, this fanfic is going to be less focused on a specific time then the previous one due to the transforming era, so day-to-day will be a bit lost in the process. The point is to show the transition from (most) bases to Crawlers so when I get into the Tiberium Twilight era, it makes sense instead of suddenly being a sudden switch as it feels like at times in the game.**


	3. Chapter 3: Sayonara

_Times make me wonder why politicians can have power struggles when their entire race is at stake, then I realized. They tend to be petty men and women who'd rather have claim to an empty title rather then be simply someone 'in the gutter'. They have to be _someone_ people know, a leader. Can't believe they chose such a foolish decision, but… it happened. Now we have to brace for the consequences… Riggs is definitely being manipulated by Rios… that I'm certain of. However… it makes sense, in a certain way, that people group together. It's a defensive instinct, to be part of a group… perhaps that's how Kane got his initial footing… maybe, but that is something only he knows, assuming the stories about his 'biblical past' are true._

-Taken from the journal of GDI Commander Ahsoka Tano, date of recovery unknown.

**Chapter 3: Sayonara**

**May 20, 2064**

**Firestorm Taskforce Zone Training Facility**

**Kinross, Scotland**

**Blue Zone**

Sarah nodded idly as she pulled up the specs on the new generation Zone Armor, several months into circulation at that point. It was to pass idle time, she was quite well aware that all the upgrades were unlikely to be used by her because she was wired into her own armor.

The new line of armor retained most of its previous traits, particularly the immunity to Tiberium radiation. However, a new addition that had actually been gained from a small GDI group of scientists getting a crack at a as-of-yet undiscovered piece of the Tacitus, which allowed the cheaper, mass producible Zone Armor to be fireproof, protecting the wearer from flames, even the Black Hand's purifying flames were nullified for the most part… but the sheer heat was still lethal if it got hot enough. However, counteracting this, the Nod Separatists, the so-called Enlightened Cult of Gideon, had learned that as well… and designed a new Flame Tank and flamethrower capabilities that could overpower the protection… it just took longer. Nod was humiliated there; as many of Kane's commanders had called the Flame Tank past its prime, and were busy hastily assembling a new model, but it was reported not to be ready anytime soon. And now GDI was paying the price as recently-rezoned Yellow Zones were being harassed by these new Flame Tanks, capable of burning up APC lack of armor, but faster then Predator Tanks and able to avoid them. Regardless, outfitting all soldiers with Zone Armor was a big step in the right direction. _Next time the Scrin come to play, this'll make a nice surprise for their Overlord son of a bitch._

The new Zone Trooper armor was more bulky then before, and had a 75 millimeter Rail Gun, adding an extra half to the barrel size from the previous generation 50 millimeter Rail Gun… as well as the power requirements, supplemented from additional power packs in the Trooper armor. However, the previous skill-and-training edge the old Zone Troopers had, once being the pinnacle of infantry was now the standard and had thusly taken a degree of competence away to allow the Zone Trooper to become the main line soldier of GDI. A heavy machine gunner suit was reported to be in the works as well to supplement them in infantry combat.

The Zone Raider was mostly the same… but Sarah knew that the Zone Raider was going to be getting an overhaul soon, especially their weaponry, the two-handed sonic grenade launcher had proved to be a liability at times to the Zone Raider, so the R&D scientists were working on making a more side-arm like weapon akin to the old Zone Trooper Rail Guns yet keeping the tradition of Zone Raider used Sonics, a reported sonic-based laser-like weapon built semi-directly into the armor as a wrist weapon. Demolition training was also being added to the Raider regiment, but those of the previous training regiment would be pulled out when available to get the new training to use a new set of sonic grenades, designed with destroying enemy encampments before they could endanger the TCN. _Need to get my armor modified soon. The pain of getting the cybernetics modified will be worth it though, where my current armor would get holes blown from a direct Mammoth Tank hit, this stuff can take it and keep on walking, and if what Kane meant was true, I'm not exactly done with life yet. And I don't intend to be until I'm confident I've left the world a bit tidier, OK, a lot tidier, than I found it._

Pushing that out of her mind for the moment, she looked at the newly developed and semi-final design for the Zone Defender infantry class and associated armor. The Defenders' armor was available and divisions to make use of it under training at the facility, disguised as a Steel Talon training center, as Sarah was thinking about it. The reason the Taskforce was the actual organization within the facility was due to reports of Gideon having infiltrators in the Zone ranks as GDI's military standards began to drop slightly due to a desperate need of more soldiers, hence why the Taskforce (discretely) was put in charge, as ferreting out spies was a specialty of theirs… actually, they were, indirectly and for the sake of public cover, part of the Steel Talons. That; and they wanted to find those who would have the potential for the Taskforce earlier than latter.

There was a point of interest by a few in the Taskforce about the up and coming Zone Defender corps; since most of the previous generation GDI Missile Troopers had reassigned to Zone Troopers and enjoyed it over hauling missile launchers (as they can go after tanks just as effectively), a lot of the women had been eager to get a shot at using rocket launchers, which they in the past hadn't been able to use due to the necessary upper body strength to use them over extended periods of time, were signing up quick. They were now filling the Zone Defender training classes so fast that Sarah couldn't count them all._ I'm waiting for the chauvinistic comments to come out,_ Sarah thought idly, _but I suppose it'll be like the Zone Raider, tradition just weirdly springs up in GDI, as always. No official designation that says men can't be Zone Raiders or Defenders, and none that say women can't join the Troopers or the few Rangers… of course, they have to meet the standards, which, from Trooper to Raider, are so close they're almost the same._

She pushed that returning thought out of her head, even though the tradition had given several psychologists and InOps agents enough pause to put a footnote in the databank, and even try to discourage it, GDI's armed forces stood by tradition, even if it mystified them. One theory going around was that the Raiders called for flexibility, while the Troopers were just going in guns blazing, no subtly at all. _True or not, that actually, in a certain, coldly dispassionate sense, sums up the Raiders and Troopers, even women and men, respectively. Of course, that's a _very_ broad generalization, and hardly accurate at all._ Everyone had strengths and weaknesses. Her strengths lied in the advanced connection to her power armor and above-average strength and resilience (thanks to the Nod cybernetics Kane had, for reasons she did not know truly, outfitted with to 'resurrect' her, as it was described) combined with still-independent thought. _Of course,_ Sarah realized, _Something tells me it wouldn't be hard for someone with time to retrofit it so I'd be mindless… God the thought is revolting, and yet Kane's followers are starting to get full cybernetic conversions of their own just so they can fight on par with the new Zone stuff to serve Kane… my weakness really is the fact that those cybernetics get blown out, I'll drop dead faster then you can say 'Steel Talons Rule'._

"Captain Granger," said one of the Steel Talon soldiers stationed there at the door, knocking her out of her thoughts, "Priority communiqué from General Mitchell."

Sarah nodded, "I'll take it in the briefing room."

"Yes ma'am."

Sarah quickly headed over and into the nearby briefing room and punched up the holotransmitter. Mitchell appeared and nodded to her, looking tense. "Sarah! Get yourself and a team down to Waukesha immediately! Sep forces are attacking with modified Flame Tanks; it's an extended siege according to InOps!"

"Copy that General, we'll be there ASAP." Sarah responded as the transmission cut, and pulled up a list of available personnel…_ Phalanx Company is all I have with the basic training complete… and they're greener than Tiberium… but they have vehicular support, APCs, and since they still possess the gun ports, they'll work combined._ She called the leader of the twenty-man Zone Trooper, Five-woman Zone Raider team, a Zone Trooper named Sergeant Logan.

"Captain?" Logan asked.

"Get everyone together, we're going on a rapid transit to Waukesha, it's under extended attack. Get moving."

"Ma'am yes ma'am!"

XXXXX

**May 20****th****, 2064**

**Nightfall**

**Waukesha Garrison**

**GDI Outpost**

**Yellow Zone**

As Ahsoka observed what was once the battlefield, she was surprised to see Predator Tank turrets and APC chassis' with extra armor plating scattered about in smoke and small flames. She had only just arrived, as had Sarah's reinforcements.

"What happened here? Looks like someone took all the APC guns away and the Predator Tank treads too." Ahsoka finally commented as they came close to the base itself.

"I dunno," Sarah responded, she had jump-jetted into Ahsoka's Harrier once it was clear the battle was over. "I'm trying to raise Captain Leon Kamparov, but he's reportedly wounded and in bed at the base's armory."

"His second?"

"Dead."

"Can Captain Kamparov speak?"

"Yes, but we have to visit him in person."

"Let's go."

The Harrier set down and the onboard Zone Troopers left, heading out to check for surviving Nod and GDI forces. Ahsoka and Sarah entered the armory.

Captain Leon Kamparov was lying in the bed, bandaged heavily from gunshot wounds.

"Captain Kamparov," Ahsoka said, nodding, "Commander Tano, GDI Steel Talons, Firestorm Taskforce."

"Commander," Leon said, nodding grimly. "You know, they say when two beautiful women visit you in the bed, especially two you don't know, you should probably say you're dead… well, I can tell I'm not, but I find the observation interesting."

"Well, since you obviously aren't dead, how'd the battle go?"

"It was a full success… but I took heavy casualties… we had to jury-rig a half-Predator, half-APC tank to win that… most of these tankinsteins were destroyed."

"But neither TCN node nor civilian were touched," Sarah said, nodding as she pulled up the details on her wrist EVA, "Oh, I'm Captain Sarah Granger, Steel Talons division, Firestorm Taskforce."

Leon nodded to her, unaware she was a cyborg.

"Captain Kamparov," Ahsoka said, glancing out the window as one of the jury-rigged tanks were rolled back to the War Factory, "When you're able, could you give me an overview on that tank you jury-rigged?"

"Certainly," Kamparov said, "Though it was a… emergency measure."

XXXXX

**Two Hours Later**

Ahsoka nodded as Leon Kamparov, in a wheel chair due to leg injuries, explained and pointed out the jury-rigged tanks' abilities. _Reminds me of what Skyguy did sometimes,_ she thought as she looked it over, _and he did some pretty surprising things… using anti-armor walkers designed for land-based battles as space weapons, for one. Heck, he did so many crazy things with Republic equipment, they almost put 'used by Skywalker' as a cause of destruction…_

"I'll have to tell Command about this," Ahsoka said, appraising the last tankenstien with the experience she had from Anakin Skywalker's training and her time with the Steel Talons, "This might be the key to TCN defense. I'll put you in for ingenuity, that's for sure. Looks like it'll give GDI a good wake up about the need for mobility."

XXXXX

**June 1****st****, 2064**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Steel Talon HQ**

**Blue Zone**

Mitchell nodded as the new Hunter Tank, or rather, the prototype model, was described to him and shown to him in a hologram. Combining the cannon of the Predator Tank and in a holy marriage binding it to the APC chassis, modified with an eight wheel drive and new armor composite materials, it looked promising… but it needed something more. _Something to give it the oompf of a Titian and not a lighter version of a Predator with a smaller gun, because that just isn't GDI and would just make it a slightly tougher APC, and won't be able to deal with those Flame Tanks…_

"Major Kamparov," Mitchell said, as Kamparov had been promoted for his brilliance and ingenuity, "I think you need to give the cannon a redesign… we have a new weapon. Ionized Rail Guns."

Ahsoka, who was also there, opened her eyes wide. She had been helping with that project due to the radiation from the guns that she was able to take in stride… Ionized Rail Guns were the next stage of GDI Rail Guns, adding ionized particles into the projectile for a powerful bolt of energy, giving it a distinctly teal/blue glow… and making a 150 millimeter gun the equivalent of a 175 millimeter gun in firepower, but the speed of a much lighter projectile. Unfortunately, the shells weren't yet safe for use in the army yet due to unstable power.

"General Mitchell," Ahsoka cut in, "I helped with testing that, the power requirements are enormous for the Ionized Rail Guns, and I don't recall the normal power packs used by our tanks quite up to that, even Titians were pushing it."

Mitchell nodded, "A valid concern, Commander. A very valid concern… but you've been a bit behind the times. Idris just released an offshoot of the TCN to us… they're called Tiberium Core Generators. Think of it as a super-cheap, super effective, and extremely stable Power Pack about the shape of say… your lightsaber, except give it a extra couple inches all around, making a roughly five inches diameter circle, then add the handling. It's cheap, effective… and safe. And even if it's damaged and salvaged, it supposedly can be used to augment other power cores with additional power. But, the key thing, a test with the ionized Rail Guns using these have shown such a major decrease in radiation, it's practically safe… though the gun will take time to get perfect."

"Wow…" Ahsoka said slowly… "That's…"

"Something you've never heard of in ability?" Kamparov said with a smile on his face.

"Sort of. Didn't expect that any time soon though. Thought I'd be dust by the time that kind of tech came out."

"No worries, Commander." Mitchell said, "Now, let's redesign this puppy and make a _real_ tank out of it… Oh, before I forget," Mitchell looked at Ahsoka, "I just got a report from the lads in Tokyo working on the Tengu, they can resume the work on it pretty soon, and probably will have the first prototypes clear for combat use by Christmas."

Ahsoka nodded, "Thanks, least we found a use for the last segment decoded before Mount Cheyenne. If that went to waste…"

Mitchell only nodded as Ahsoka let the thought hang, Kamparov left in the dark on what the two were referring too.

_Oh it's gonna be good… can't wait to see Kane piss his pants when he sees the Tengu take on those ECG bastards like a Bulldog taking on piglets in a pig pen… and Ahsoka's right, if we couldn't find a use for the formula we got just before Mount Cheyenne, it'd be a waste of so many lives…_

XXXXX

**June 2nd, 2064**

**Firestorm Taskforce HQ**

**Undisclosed Location**

**Zone Unknown**

Ahsoka walked into her office, and accessed her EVA via computer rather than wrist link. Checking her mail, she found the usual update from Coric, who was now on 'Summer Vacation' for the year and would be heading to his final school course, senior year, that fall. Sarah had also left Ahsoka a note, more via official channels, on how the new Zone troops were faring. While a lot of them were converted from standard Riflemen and missile soldiers to Zone infantry, they were shaping up as well as they could… but GDI would have to make Zone units the official infantry division soon to keep its quality edge over Nod and ECG, either that, or bring up the standards. GDI never won with numbers, they never had them in the major battles, and GDI relied quite often on superior soldiers, trained and well equipped, to win. _That,_ Ahsoka thought, _is how it should be in war, if it has to happen. People properly readied, or at least as readied as training can get you, for war, rather than masses of ill-trained or cannon fodder._

Rex also had sent her something… she opened it, and noted that Rex had used Aurebesh rather than Earth's alphabet… since pretty much only those two knew it fully and easily, it meant Rex didn't want someone to open it up.

_Ahsoka,_

_I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you in a while. It's eating on me that we've been apart when we only had each other for so long… but I need you to do something for me. It's about Sarah… I can't confront her about my mistakes… yet. I… I screwed up entirely, I admit it now. Every day I see her doing things I thought impossible for tinnies and clankers… but… you were right. But I just… I just can't face her yet. It makes me feel cheated somehow… like all my dead brothers got killed and that was that, so often before they even got a _taste_ of individuality, yet she got a second chance. I'm not complaining, but that's how it feels… like acknowledging she got a chance all my brothers didn't is betraying them._

Ahsoka was surprised as she read that… _No… don't be. His thoughts are different… he's had experiences you can't even dream of. He's right too… so many didn't get second chances when we went into the kind of hell and fire like we did at Mount Cheyenne… yet she got one…_

She continued reading on,

_Look, next time you see her, please, pass on my regards and tell her I can't face her yet, and why. She should know._

_Hope to see you face-to-face soon,_

_Rex_

She then noticed a PS…

_P.S._

_This isn't something you can help with Ahsoka… I need to solve this myself. Don't let me burden you._

Ahsoka nodded, _This is his real struggle, like a mid-life crisis. He's going to have to confront it himself… face his inner darkness._

She recalled having to face her own all too often in the Clone Wars… her tendency to get overconfident. She gave a rueful smile, _I'm just glad I grew out of that… but Pelleaon was right, the Republic shouldn't of had 14 or so year olds as commanders… far too young. Should of done something like the relationship between Rex and me evolved… the Padawan is along as a trainee officer, only holding official rank over a small squad or something. Mature as the Jedi has to become… there's things that even all the Force in its vastness can't remove._

She was knocked out of her thoughts by a beep on the console…

"Ajay," Ahsoka asked as she pulled it up, "Something wrong?"

"Almost wish something was," Ajay said, "All's quiet over the last day, not a mutant pointing a gun at us or a Sep making a 'Kane's a traitor' speech. However, you should see this… it's… disturbing."

Ahsoka frowned as a letter came up… in blood red, it read,

_Slut, bitch, and all the explanatives,_

_Leave GDI, and go die in the Red Zone where you belong, or better yet, throw yourself on a knife and die painfully. Be gone, and go back to the hovel, the pits, the hell where you belong._

_With thousands of prayers to your slow and painful death,_

_The True Guardians of Earth_

Ahsoka shoot her head, "Let me guess, anti-mutant protest?"

"Basically. There's a small riot in New York, but General Granger has it pinned, it's such a small matter and small riot, it barely classifies as one. The Peacekeepers under Granger are, as I said, containing it easily. Good thing we added a stun setting to those power shotguns, the laser rounds sting… especially on kill."

Ahsoka nodded, disturbed somewhat by the letter. _Someone is personally dedicated to eradicating non-humans from Earth… well, non-human sentients._

"If anything else comes, use it for tinder."

Ajay grinned, nodding. "That was my thoughts. I'll log it so we have it on hand if needed, but otherwise, fireplace it is."

XXXXXX

**June 14****th****, 2064**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Steel Talons HQ**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka watched in awe as the new Orca took off, ready to enter service within GDI.

The Orca Mark V was different then previous generations in that it was larger and possessed a sturdier airframe. But, like its true predecessors, it was lighter than a Firehawk and armed with rockets. It looked more like a Second Tiberium War Orca bomber than the succeeding, and lighter, Orca Gunship, but it was robust and agile at the same time. Orca pilots cheered as it took its first flight.

"I present to you," General Mitchell proudly said, "The Orca Mark Five!"

Ahsoka clapped as well, joining the crowd, but although did not cheer, but she smiled widely. _THIS_ _is something I am willing to depend my life on if I have to._

The Orca Mark V began it's testing, targeting old, moderately armored Scorpion Tanks, a hailstorm of rockets blasting them apart. A pair of combat dummy Venom made a pass, but the Orca turned and gunned them down, the bullets from the test Venom bouncing off the armor plating, and the Orca used its new Comet missiles, multi-purpose rockets, to gun the Venom down.

Although no longer officially a light attack craft and now a Medium Assault Craft, the Orca Mark V was the true heir to the Orca lineage. The military had its way in a military matter, and the GDI Council was suitably chastened for its foolishness in interfering with such a military matter.

XXXXX

**June 17****th****, 2064**

**Idris Corporation Encampment # THX-1138**

**Berlin, Germany**

**Yellow Zone (Borderline)**

Sarah nodded along as she read the security report regarding the area around the finished-and-being-fully-prepared TCN node. Tasked with taking a large group of the new Zone Troopers, Raiders, and Defenders (the former outnumbering the latter two considerably in size ratio) for some crash training in the field, she had been assigned to a border Idris encampment…

The political situation was quickly going against Rex as the TCN began to work, and Idris got it's due credit for making it happen, Evelyn Rios, the leader of Idris after the death (and reported murder) of Elias Caruso, was close enough to having enough an edge of the GDI Council that she could easily knock Rex off of leadership and take the reins. _I might be biased because I'm married to Rex, but sounds to me like a political power play._

The mood was felt in the Idris camp, the workers, knowing quite soon that Idris might become the dominant power, had a much higher morale then before… and if Rios did become the leader on the GDI Council, Idris' power would increase enough that Sarah knew that GDI equipment might fall into their hands legally… that was, to Sarah, a worrisome prospect. _Military hardware should stay in military hands, not in the hands of some mega-corporation. The whole point of GDI at this point is to cover Idris' ass when rogue Mutants or Nod seps get on the offensive… Nod too, evidently. They shouldn't have to arm themselves to the point of being a military force beyond basic security._

The door to her small office, part of the MCV deployed at the camp, opened, and the local Idris foreman, one Mr. Von Swartz, entered.

"Foreman," Sarah said, nodding as she minimized the files she was looking at on her wrist EVA.

"Captain… A little bird told me that you're not here just for our protection."

"That's correct, Foreman, at least for the specific forces that are being deployed here. They're fresh from Boot Camp, first tour of duty for most of them; I'm here to oversee such and make sure that they'll be ready for when they don't have their training officer with them."

"But we were promised a crack defense from GDI, or is that a convenient lie?"

Sarah frowned. GDI had promised to protect the Idris encampments, and did, but… _Do they think we have enough elite soldiers to guard _every_ position? Most of our forces are still a shade of green at this point with the baby boom's generation coming into combat age…_

"You were promised and you are _getting_ a crack GDI defense. These are some of the finest we've trained; they're just a little green. And as you know quite well, Foreman, GDI can't have a dozen Commandos at each base… actually, I don't even think we _have_ any more than a dozen now…"

"Hrmpf." The Foreman said, "Very well, 'Captain'. But I want some armor protection as soon as possible, not just infantry."

With that, he about-faced and left.

Sarah wondered if he really was concerned about the defense, or if he was just getting an idea for her… _He knows you're related to Rex by marriage, that's for sure… maybe he's trying to find out how hard you'd defend him._

The answer was with her life of course… _But no… he doesn't mean in battle, he thinks politically..._ She pulled up his file, and, unsurprisingly, she found that he was a career bureaucrat and politician who had, obviously, thrown his full support behind Rios._ And a prominent supporter at that…_

She shook her head. _Politics aside, we're getting pretty thinly stretched, he probably should be glad we're basing a full regiment at this work camp… most other work camps, especially the smaller ones, are being defended by like… a squad of Zone Infantry and a spare tank. It's only the major ones, the TCN hubs, like this one, that's being fortified considerably because if they went out, work on other TCN nodes would be redundant._

"**Incoming Transmission,"** EVA reported.

"Source and type?"

"**Personal Message, Text only."**

Sarah nodded, "Put it through."

It was a forwarded letter, written by Rex and forwarded by Ahsoka after a translation from some weird text that she had noted was stamped on the inside of Rex's armor… as she read it, or rather, the translation, she blinked.

_He's gotten over part of it… but he feels horrible about how he treated me… or maybe he just can't face me yet because he fears he can't…_

Then a more pragmatic reason hit her… _or maybe he's trying to isolate me from the politicians… a cyborg Zone Raider would get a lot of political, and physical, flak, no matter how many little ECG and Nod boys and girls tell campfire horror stories about her. I'm already out there, but the Council only saw me once and even then I wasn't a very active participant of the discussion, probably only a footnote really. As long as Rex is that high, I'm a political target… so keeping the politicians busy with him would cover me fairly well…_

She appreciated what Rex was doing… but, she had other feelings too, _I'll give him his time to get himself on track, then when he's ready; we can try and recover as best we can._

XXXXX

**July 6****th****, 2064**

**Manchester, UK**

**GDI Admin Building**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka watched as, one by one, the GDI council, excluding the Generals (excluding then General Riggs) voted to have a new Director put in charge. Generals Mitchell, Locke, Granger, and Nagama had all tried to keep Rex on as Director, but they were outvoted by sheer numbers. Colonel Louise James, who wasn't on the council except as an advisor due to being a Colonel, was sitting with Ahsoka as they watched the proceedings from an observation room, Ahsoka was also observing as she was the security liaison for the Council in the Manchester area before the TCN made the Colonies redundant as 'humanity's last hope', and were now becoming major cities and bases for TCN and Alliance coordination.

"Well," Colonel James said, "Politicians finally did it. Wondered what took 'em so long, they could have done it right away one, even before they made the damned Alliance with that murderer Kane and got rid of the only voices of reason easily."

"Probably thought it'd look like political scheming and taking advantage of the opportunity," Ahsoka answered. She and the colonel were, despite the differing ranks (Ahsoka outranking the colonel), friendly. They never really figured out where it started, but Ahsoka recalled that Louise's carrier began with the Steel Talons, albeit as an infantrywoman, so they figured it was just Steel Talons camaraderie if they thought of it much.

Rex took it probably much better than Rios hoped, he simply nodded, and said, "If that's the Council's decision, so be it."

_I got to admit it; he can be nice and dry when he needs to, yet mask it in a way that'd make the career politician blush in shame._ Ahsoka decided, admiring Rex's ability to not give the politicians even the slightest amount of satisfaction for ousting him from a job he hadn't even wanted in the first place.

"Thank you for being reasonable, Mr. Rex." Rios said… then Mitchell rose.

"Given he was a GDI Commander prior to taking the job _at the Council's insistence_, I would offer him, formally and on the record, the chance to return to active duty."

Rex nodded, "It'd be a pleasure and an honor."

General Riggs, surprisingly, chimed in, "I do not believe he should be left as a common Commander, his actions and bravery in the Third would have earned him a promotion had the Council not called on him to serve as director. I would personally put him in for a promotion to General."

This evidently surprised everyone, it even surprised Ahsoka. She thought Mitchell would be the one to advocate Rex's promotion… _No, he knows enough about politics to know when it would be better off to wait for Rex to prove he's still got the military skill._

Rex gave only a slight nod to indicate he heard. "Council's decision, General Riggs, but I appreciate the vote of confidence. But please, sort out the issue of the new Director _before_ committing to less important things."

The Council 'deliberated', the Generals advocating for one of the more moderate councilors, one who respected the army and it's position, but to no avail, as Rios had built up enough political clout to dominate… in a record-breaking time of twenty minutes, they had put the vote through and got her the job as GDI Director.

"Thank you," Rios said, standing up and taking Rex's old seat while Rex moved off behind Mitchell, being (to Ahsoka's surprise) courteous towards Rios and leaving the chair open for her.

"We're at the crossroads, as we very well know." Rios began in a easily pre-prepared speech if not for the wrench Riggs threw in, "I promise that by the time I'm done with my time as Director, Tiberium will be a scourge of the past, as gone in threat as the Black Death was. I recognize that Rex's achievements, both in the battlefield and here on the Council, far outweigh a mere commander and support the notion that he be put up towards a General. Are their any objections?"

There were none, and Rex joined the ranks of the GDI Generals, raising their number to seven Generals total… one for each continent. _I wonder if that's what'll happen pretty soon,_ Ahsoka realized, _GDI is reexpanding so having a General in charge of a specific continent would make a lot of sense… well, if you count Antarctica as a continent, that is._

"Maybe he'll take reins on the Taskforce," Colonel James commented to Ahsoka, "I mean, he was the main advocate for it, along with Mitchell, and well, it'd make sense given the adopted familial ties."

"If he wants to, he can." Ahsoka answered simply, "I honestly don't mind, he's a capable leader."

"That he is. Well, 'cept for not pushing to make Nod pay…"

"Yet." Ahsoka answered, "Yet. This is probably something like the anti-CABAL alliance back in the First Firestorm Crisis… and honestly, I don't think it'll hold after the TCN is done."

"Well, I'll be ready for it when it does break. And mark my words, it will."

With that, she tapped her high-powered pistol, and then turned to leave to observation room. Ahsoka knew quite well what her problem was, she lost her family to the Scrin during the initial attack, and attack revealed now to of been caused because Kane lured the Scrin to Earth for who-knows-why… then she was drawn by something Riggs said…

"Eventual GDI disarmament may be necessary…"

_WHAT did he just say?_ She asked herself, swearing she could not of heard such… a _GDI_ General, advocating for disarmament at some point? When the _Scrin_ were still out there? When there was probably _millions, trillions_ of things in the universe that'd want to kill humanity? _This is exactly why the Taskforce's mandate discreetly includes break-away-and-become-self-sufficient-and-independent as a clause… so that if GDI was disarmed, we can still stand._ She reminded herself, _might become time to do it soon… well, we already had preparations for such a break if necessary, best triple check them if this is the predicted direction coming…_

"With respect, General Riggs," General Granger coolly responded, "GDI shouldn't have to disarm. And it _can't_ disarm, not until it's proven that there's nothing else left to threaten the planet, and even then, what would protect the planet when suddenly some new threat comes?"

"When will a century of blood and war come to an end, General Granger, when people no longer have to worry about their sons and _daughters_ being sent to _die_ in a _needless war_?"

_THAT_ had stung, and it was easily visible that it had, they all knew how delicate the situation with Sarah, General Granger's daughter, was to him. Granger's knuckles turned white as he clenched them, the very old age General Granger was reaching showing itself in full as he collected himself before a response. Mitchell was on his feet, as if ready to challenge Riggs to a Titian duel over the insult… if there was one thing to respect about Mitchell, it was that he'd protect his friends tooth, nail, and blood, and a Titian duel, usually with non-lethal rounds, was his favored style of settling issues of honor.

But what followed, Ahsoka never found out as she just couldn't watch it anymore… suddenly, she wasn't watching the GDI Council meeting through a video screen… she was thrust into the future... _another vision? Now?_

She inhaled, and let it come…

It was hazy… but she saw Rios, at an unknown time in the future, shouting something along the lines of, _"You will be marked an enemy of the state and shot on sight!"_

She then caught… GDI against GDI combat… with technology and equipment she couldn't make out besides what seemed to be Zone infantry and a Mammoth Mark II lookalike, but not equipped with the Mark II's quad Rail Guns… yet there was something wrong with one of the groups of GDI… like it was only a pale, almost false shadow of the true GDI, whereas others were the true GDI trying to reclaim Earth's defense… she saw what seemed to be a Mammoth Tank take out what seemed to be a modified Pitbull armed with a shotgun like weapon, the former bearing Steel Talon markings whereas the latter had mainline GDI markings.

Suddenly she was launched back into the present… _Do not tell me that GDI is going to splinter like Nod… could it? Or is Idris going to potentially become _the_ superpower and replace GDI entirely… or just reduce it to the point where it's just their military arm?_

She stopped her rampant thoughts, taking deep, slow breathes. _Calm down Ahsoka… the future is always in motion; don't forget Yoda's lessons on that even if you see the future, it's a warning to be ready for it to come, and may not even happen unless you_ act_ on it…_

A Zone Trooper on security duty glanced at Ahsoka, then said, "Somethin' wrong, Commander?"

Ahsoka glanced at him, extending a subtle probe with the Force, and sensed he was one of the Firestorm Taskforce… but showed none of the symbols associated with it on his armor. The Trooper in question was one of their 'undercover' agents within another GDI division, alert for unexpected developments such as mind control which the Scrin were capable of using. "No… just… the pressure from the recent events coming up and hitting hard."

The Trooper nodded, "Right."

Ahsoka left (as Riggs declined a challenge from a swearing Mitchell), and headed down the hall, heading into her small room, maintained at the GDI Council's request for when she was there due to her position as the leader of the Firestorm Taskforce. Once inside, she locked it and made sure everything was soundproofed before pulling up her wrist EVA unit's information. Coric had left something, a message…

Pulling it up, she read through it. The usual stuff, and a few notes on what Mitchell was up to with him in his albeit-discrete training. But something caught her eye…

Coric had a girlfriend now… a young woman at his age named Lilly. The two had, apparently, had each others' eye for a while… since pre-school, apparently.

Ahsoka frowned a moment, wondering what it meant… _Probably a high school crush, don't think much about it._

She shut the wrist EVA down and got her things together, she would be heading out again the next day to join Sarah in the field and engaging a large group of mutant clans that had been causing problems in the Pacific.

XXXXX

**July 8****th****, 2064**

**En Route**

**Tokyo, Japan**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka and Sarah, arriving with a small group of Zone Troopers in a single Harrier Gunship ahead of the main Firestorm Taskforce forces, were now en route to Tokyo to assist General Nagama with a particularly troublesome alliance of mutant clans in the Pacific, called the Pacific Tigers.

But when they saw Tokyo… they were surprised: The outer defenses of GDI military were disabled, and the Peacekeeper police forces were pinned down across Tokyo… but only a few mutants were engaging them… proper GDI military soldiers were dead and dying across the city… like they were undermanned and hit hard and fast.

"What the hell?" Ahsoka asked… then punched up her wrist EVA, "Ajay, need SkySentry on Tokyo, now!"

Ajay quickly typed something in on his end of the transmission, and brought of footage for Ahsoka to see…

The outer guns, GDI Anti-Naval Batteries (quadruple 300 millimeter cannons now) were disabled and the GDI Predator Tanks blown apart by a barrage of rockets, mutant infantry armed with various low-caliber weapons such as rifles and pistols were landing, along with what seemed to be tamed Visceroids and rocket launcher wielding mutants. A pair of Peacekeepers, heavily armored in their traditional blue-on-black armor and face-obscuring helmets and plate visors, rushed up with their powerful shotguns to try and stop it, only to be pinned down by the Visceroids and captured, cuffed, and held at gunpoint. GDI military was being shot down as the few Predator Tank single patrols were hit by various ambushes and traps trying to get to the front to respond… and weren't salvageable.

"God damn it," Ajay said as the footage continued, "Looks like the mutants from the "Pacific Tiger" clan are launching an infiltration-and-assault on Tokyo! Commander, General Nagama and most of his forces are in the Shin Iga Province battling down a large invasion force, but Tokyo was sabotaged by the looks of it and the Tigers are coming in for the throat."

Ahsoka nodded, "Alright, we'll get these Peacekeepers rescued and see if we can hold out until the rest of the Taskforce arrives. Pilot! Air drop us at the Shipyard!"

"Copy that Commander! Get ready for a drop ladies and gents!"

Ahsoka held onto the roof-mounted rail, as did the other Zone infantry. The door opened, and Ahsoka let go. Free falling down to the now-useful shipyards, Ahsoka slowed her descent with the Force and brought her lightsaber to bare, cutting a surprised pair of mutants in half. The two Peacekeepers they held hostage quickly engaged the other two mutants in melee hand-to-hand and overpowered them, getting their Shotguns back and checking the settings, both shotguns, which now used laser based rounds, were set to kill.

"Thanks for the rescue," the American-born Peacekeeper said, "Most of the others are pinned down 'cross the city, got an MCV at the Dojo complex, but I don't know how long until it gets captured!"

"We got a bunch of bloody mutants around the area too, small, advance squads to clear the area for the main group." Explained the other Peacekeeper, a British woman, "Gotta get rid of them all."

Ahsoka nodded, glad they hadn't made a comment on her looks yet._ Probably figure that can wait until after._

Ahsoka lead the squad, freeing a dozen more Peacekeepers around the shipyard and capturing a pair of former-GDI-now-mutant Amphibious APCs, which the Peacekeepers got onto and drove to the Dojo 'island' whereas Ahsoka, Sarah, and the Zone Infantry jump jetted over, landing across a bridge from the Dojo area. Taking down a large mutant squad, they cut through the back and surprised the mutant riflemen taking potshots at GDI Peacekeepers, who were trying to respond from cover with their shotguns.

The MCV deployed and the Dojo complex came back online. The remaining mutant squads broke off and sped away.

"We need to get the power back online," a Japanese Peacekeeper said, "and secure the Shipyards, Dojos, _and_ Tenzai Robotics!"

Ahsoka nodded to the man as she pulled up the Tokyo map. They were deployed in the center of the Harbor, where the Nagama Dojos were located; it was GDI's finest training center for frontline infantry and urban combat training. It was not uncommon for GDI soldiers to go there briefly during their training cycle to get some advanced training, or be transferred if they proved to be very skilled inherently. It was the legacy of the Nagama family, once one of the most powerful lineages in more ancient Japan for its uncommonly rare skill and ferocity in battle… and the ability to teach it to a somewhat lesser degree. To the west was Tenzai Robotics, which was a front company for the Steel Talons' Japanese division of R&D… and were behind a new weapon for the Firestorm Taskforce that was supposed to be ready for initial testing at the end of the year. To the south east were the Shipyards. Although not as vital a target, the area had been retrofitted as a spaceport, making it even more important and a key target for any anti-GDI force as they still needed a few more Global Stratospheric Transports; the Iceland spaceport could only make one a year if all went well. Emergency bridges had extended, allowing land travel from the Dojo to the other locations and vice versa.

Ahsoka took a glance at her wrist EVA, which was calculating GDI troop strength… all she had was the local Peacekeepers and her small Firestorm Zone Infantry squad to defend the harbor until reinforcements arrived… and the mutants were coming in with large numbers of infantry and light tanks, Amphibious APCs retrofitted with 120 millimeter guns of the Second Tiberium War era… she then glanced at the Dojo motor pool… a large number of jeeps suited for fast city travel… but they didn't have the numbers to man them with drivers and several soldiers gunning, while speeding around the city to engage the likely spread of mutant soldiers, yet at the same time man the barricades.

"I want engineering teams at the guns, we need to get them back online to try and stop the landings." Ahsoka ordered, and several Jeeps were taken by engineers with a pair of Peacekeepers escorting them.

She then remembered that Tenzai Robotics had designed an automatic shotgun for use by Zone Infantry to allow Zone Armored Peacekeepers to be deployed rather than the older, riot-squad trained Peacekeepers… the idea was turned down due to the need to feed it ammo fairly consistently… _why am I thinking about…_ then inspiration hit her.

"Ajay, get me all the automatic shotguns you can, the ones sized for Zone armor, and have all available Peacekeeper Jeeps get sent to the Robotics labs for some retrofitting… time to make a anti-infantry Jeep with a shotgun."

Ajay looked at her, surprised, then said, "OK… let's make a bulldog out of it and hunt some piggy's."

XXXXX

**Fifty Minutes Later**

Ahsoka pulled herself out from inside the Jeep, or, as it was being nicknamed, 'Bulldog' she was working on. She managed to link a protected gunner's seat in the Jeep's trunk to a top mounted shotgun designed originally for Zone Troopers, but big enough in size with a little modification that it was suitable for a fast-attack vehicular strike, using an automatic loading system jury-rigged to keep the shotgun fed with ammo… but it would call for reloading every shot. _Reminds me of what I saw in my vision at the GDI admin building..._

"It is not pretty or handsome," one of the Japanese engineers commented as he looked it over and testing the systems, stopping those thoughts from getting any traction within Ahsoka, "But then again, Bulldogs never were."

"If you say so," Ahsoka responded, dusting herself off. "Let's get these things out there; mutants will be here in ten minutes."

Ten minutes passed as Ahsoka went around, checking the makeshift defenses and getting everything ready… the Peacekeepers had gotten a crash course from Sarah over the last hour about actual combat with live hostiles, rather than the normal peacekeeping action they occasionally had with stun settings, riot batons/shields, and miniature EMP grenades.

Ahsoka, at the beachhead and carrying a sniper rifle she borrowed from the armory crouched down behind a sandbag wall and took aim, observing what was going on in the distance.

A fleet of former GDI Amphibious APCs were inbound, some of them coming up were modified as light tanks, using again former GDI 120 millimeter guns as their weapon, but not carrying any troops besides a tank crew.

They entered the range of the coastal guns, and with a tremendous, almost supersonic thud, the coastline batteries opened fire. One shell exploded, sending the spearhead of amphibious tanks to the bottom of the ocean in an eruption of water.

The remaining amphibious vehicles scattered in an attempt to avoid such big guns, but the sheer splash was enough to rock the APCs, weather carrying infantry or armed as tanks. As mutants landed, the Peacekeepers came out of hiding and fired their shotguns, and Bulldogs sped around, spraying high-output shotgun shells hard and fast enough it damaged several of the APC tanks, which the Zone Troopers proceeded to finish off.

Sarah jump jetted out of her hiding place and came crashing down on a pair of mutant infantrymen, and opened fire with her grenade launcher (once more carrying Sonics), and it blew a opening amphibious APC inside out. She then sped forward, attaching sonic explosives to other mutant vehicles, causing them too to detonate.

Ahsoka cut another mutant soldier down, a spray of Tiberium liquid coming out as the lightsaber, although cauterizing the wounds near-instantly, melted Tiberium crystals embedded in the soldier. Ahsoka suddenly found herself surrounded, and pulled her lightsaber close, creating a whirlwind of defenses around her as mutants tried to attack her… then, absorbing Tiberium energy from the crystals embedded in the mutants, unleashed a burst of lighting in a circle around her, causing the mutants, electrocuted, to be blown back. Now clear, Ahsoka sped over and leapt atop of a mutant Amphibious APC/Tank hybrid and cut it open, leaping in, killing the crewmembers, and leaping out.

"Commander, mutant squad disengaging and heading for Tenzai Robotics!" Ajay warned.

"Copy that. Sarah, we got a squad going for the Robotics lab." Ahsoka ordered, using the Force to pull a group of mutants up and hurl them into their comrades. Sarah, now free from enemies, sprinted towards Ahsoka and the two went towards the Robotics lab, whose automatic Watchtower and Guardian Cannon defenses were opening fire at a group of twenty six mutant infantry and two Amphibious APC/Tank hybrids.

As Sarah targeting the APC/Tank hybrids, Ahsoka cut through the infantry, deflecting several Watchtower rounds away from her as the dual guns shifted aim. Within thirty seconds, they had cleaned up the strike squad.

"Ajay, how's it looking?" Ahsoka asked, heading back to the frontline.

"Pretty good, General Nagama is en route, but the mutants are moving some battleships up into position to shell us."

"Great," Ahsoka muttered, "OK, Sarah, take command of the defenses, I'm going to go for a swim and C4 those cruisers."

"See you once you're back then," Sarah said as she returned to organizing the defense. Ahsoka leapt into the water and began to swim towards the enemy Battleships, still outside of range of the GDI defenses… but they could not return fire… yet.

The battleships finally entered range as Ahsoka closed the distance, and they opened fire. _Left… right… left… right…_ Ahsoka thought to herself, repeating it as she swam swiftly through the waters. The battleships took hits from the GDI anti-naval guns, but it was not enough. They'd need either a bombing run from an Orca squadron or Ahsoka had to put C4 in critically vulnerable areas of the ships and detonate.

She reached the first ship, and grabbed on one of the auxiliary ladders on the side and climbed up swiftly, and ignited her lightsaber, cutting through mutant sailors as they tried to respond to her. Setting C4 on the engines and the main guns, she leapt off the battleship as she detonated the C4, and the ship rocked and began to list. _C4 might be able to blow those guns, but these old GDI vessels have triple layering of armor… even if one lair of armor failed; the other two would prevent it from sinking and the broken layer could be ditched or repaired._

On the second ship, she repeated, but the third ship, she didn't need too…

"Hang on, Orca support inbound."

"Don't worry Commander, we got your back."

A squadron of Orca Mark V's flew in and bombed the remaining ship with their rockets, blowing it apart and sinking it. One of them came in closer and opened a hatch to the bomb bay, "Need a ride, Commander?" asked the pilot.

"Sure," Ahsoka responded, getting in and grabbing onto one of the racks. "just drop me near the action and I'll do the rest."

"Right ma'am. Got a group of Predators en route to assist you, courtesy of General Nagama."

"Good to know."

The door opened once they were back over the land, and Ahsoka found that he had practically landed. _Unnecessary… right, I'm not carrying Jump Jets and he doesn't know I can stroll through a lethal fall as long as I'm awake and able._

_X_XXXX

Sarah reloaded her grenade launcher and fired, the grenade hitting just under the gun of the APC/Tank hybrid, and wrecking it. A Bulldog sped past, spraying shotgun rounds into the mutant infantry, the jury rigged vehicle proving surprisingly capable, speeding around and disrupting infantry spearheads and getting clear before anti-vehicular weaponry could be brought to bear against them.

"Cap'n Granger," Ajay reported, appearing at the upper right hand corner of her helmet, "Enemy air drop coming in at your position!"

"Thanks for the warning," Sarah responded and primed her shoulder-mounted rockets, heading towards where one of the mutants had dropped smoke. Sure enough, several aircraft, which looked to Sarah like Second Tiberium War era Orca Carryalls, flew in, and began to descend. Calling several Peacekeepers and a pair of Zone Troopers up, Sarah fired at the transport's highly vulnerable joint, and got a direct hit, the modern rocket blasting the older clamp, causing an enemy APC to fall to the ground and explode, and killing the infantry inside of it.

As an APC/Tank hybrid was landed, Sarah fired her grenade launcher, scoring a direct hit and shaking it up. _For once, the light armor of GDI APC vehicles is a boon rather than a hindrance…_ The Zone Troopers were taking out the hybrids with their high-powered Rail Guns while the Peacekeepers, some using their bulletproofed riot shields and the others firing their shotguns from behind the protective shield wall, advanced forward like a Roman phalanx, getting close and in the face of the enemy infantry and spraying shotguns rounds into the area with _deadly_ efficiency… _To think,_ Sarah thought as she reloaded, _we had them all trained for that just in case we had another major series of riots like during the First Firestorm Crisis… and that they can stand with our soldiers if needed._

Suddenly, as another wave landed, from orbit, drop pods came smashing down, and soldiers equipped with GDI Commando armor came out, firing either high-powered GD-10 rifles, or shoulder mounted rocket launchers.

"General McNeil to whoever's in charge, RAID forces deploying."

"Copy that, thanks for the help General," Ahsoka responded via radio.

Several Bulldogs sped past Sarah, chasing down several surviving mutant infantrymen. RAID soldiers worked quickly, cleaning up the mutants.

"Mutant forces heading for the shipyards!" Ajay warned, "Predator tanks are almost here."

Sarah rushed over, jump jetting over the harbor and any obstacles. She arrived and found a group of RAID soldiers pinned down with several Peacekeepers, trying to stop what seemed to be a final mutant advance.

"Captain Granger!" shouted a RAID Sergeant, identifiable by the extra armor plating and silver GDI markings, "We're pinned down, but the Pred tanks are almost here!"

Sarah nodded, launching a grenade over at the enemy advance and scattering them. The RAID soldiers didn't have any grenades, evidently.

The mutants regrouped and spread out, making a final rush. Sarah used her grenade launcher on the larger groups, which scattered, but still took the hits.

"Guardian Division, reporting for duty!" said someone via the radio, with a German accent. Sarah glanced towards the horizon to the north, and she blinked, looking closer, activating her helmet's rangefinder…

Predator Tanks with APC escort were bearing down on the flank of mutant tanks, and blasting them apart with superior armor and Rail Guns. The tide was fast turning. Between RAID and the Predator Tank reinforcements, the mutants were fleeing into the seas, getting onto anything sea-worthy and speeding away. Bulldogs hounded them until they couldn't maintain the chase, spraying shotgun shells into their fleeing enemies.

Ahsoka appeared on the side, "Sarah, how you doing? Need you over here at the Dojo area, found something you might be interested in."

"Be over there in a moment." Sarah responded, nodding to the RAID sergeant, who returned it. Heading towards the edge of the shipyards, she jump jetted over the waters, landing roughly in the Dojo area. Ahsoka was waiting for her.

"You recall the overhaul the Zone Raiders are getting, right?"

"Yeah," Sarah responded, "Need to consider upgrading the armor soon before I have to the hard way."

Ahsoka nodded, "Well, the first final suits are here. I checked on my way here, Tenzai Robotics has the equipment to do the transfer… mostly."

"Mostly?" Sarah asked.

"They need an example of a Nod cybernetic stasis tank." Ahsoka answered, "Unfortunately, Kane is not so eager to share such… but this might be the answer," Ahsoka then tapped a few buttons, and Sarah had a message appear to the left side. Adjusting the helmet, she brought it up and read it…

It was an InOps report for RAID.

_Field Reconnaissance #11923-Alpha_

_Confirmed Enlightened Cult of Gideon MCV detected at Vladivostok, Russia, and presence of ECG cyborgs. Unknown where ECG gained technology for cyborgs without Kane knowing, suspected to be part of a recent group of Nod defections. MCV is deploying a small base within ruins of Vladivostok, deployed Disruption Tower shortly afterwards. Radar Scan revealed a technology center. Confirmed materials for conversion of human to cyborg. Advise immediate RAID strike to neutralize ECG cybernetic threat._

_End Report_

Sarah blinked a few times as she minimized it, "So basically, we're going to beat RAID there before they get there?"

"Almost," Ahsoka responded. "General Nagama is going to want me here so we can focus on our main objective, but I'm going to ask McNeil to let you bring a squad along, the purpose being to capture the ECG cybernetic facility and get some samples of the technology… without Nod being aware."

Sarah nodded. _In other words, help RAID into the base, capture the cybernetic stuff, get it clear, and blow the rest of the base apart._

"When do I head out?"

"Assemble a strike team of your choice and work with RAID Commander Ricardo Vega." Ahsoka answered, "I'll have my hands full with clean up here."

Sarah nodded.

XXXXX

**Author's Notes:**

**Consider the update an April Fools' day gift, and something to think over while snoring at 'Good Friday', I know I'll be 'thinking' about it while I'm getting my education in school. Happy Easter to those who celebrate, to those who don't... well, happy April.**

**They never stated **_**when**_** Rios gained power in the GDI council, so I figured I might as well get it going. Besides, she has to get power eventually, and well, the iron was hot and I needed something to set tension in motion and show the shift from the GDI military being in power and GDI all solid to being splintered a bit and definitely strained.**

**So yeah, the Hunter still won't be in mainline service for two years, but the design is being worked on. Assume that 2066 would be when it enters proper widespread service, but might be introduced a bit earlier in prototypical stages.**

**Regarding Tokyo being hit, it is in fact a reverse play on an RA3 mission, where instead of destroying the 3 locations, its defending them.**

**GDI Peacekeepers would basically be like the RA3 Allied ones, except as literal police forces with some military training, and yes, the shotguns instead use lasers and **_**yes**_**, they have a stun setting. I would figure that a super-advanced military-police-doubling-as-civilian-police would have such equipment.**

**General Nagama is also a reuse of Shinzo Nagama from RA3. What can I say, he was a cool character.**

**Another reminder, Red Alert is 'canonical' for the sake of this fanfic, but its sequels (RA2, RA3) are not. A friendly reminder, that's all.**

**RAID is, as a reminder to those who don't know, the acronym for Rapid Assault & Intercept Deployment, and is headed by Michael McNeil, whom the player took the role of in C&C Tiberian Sun. They were scheduled for the FPS **_**Tiberium**_**, but cancelled due to so-called 'low quality'. Well, there's still **_**Renegade**_**, the trick is to do it left-handed.**

**I'm going to put a review for C&C 4 in on the next chapter, so yes, spoiler warnings will be posted beforehand for those who intend to see it as a book with my spin on it (trust me, I won't be following it in a wholly loyal manner with how some of it tanked).**


	4. Chapter 4: Russian Roulette

_Kane, the one we once believed to be the prophet, the messiah… has proven himself as nothing more than a hypocrite! Why should we give our allegiance to such a man, who hated GDI, the oppression it represents, when he _joins_ them to fight_ the purity_ that is _**Tiberium**_? To join with _**the oppressor**_ that is _GDI! _Brothers, Sisters, let us no longer follow the charlatan, like Brother Marcion before his murder at the hands of the false Black Hand, let us form together, and bring about a Tiberium future! Peace, Though, Power!_

Gideon, in address to his followers, decrying Kane as a charlatan and a false prophet, in a rally in the ruins of Warsaw, Poland.

**Chapter 4: Russian Roulette**

**July 13****th****, 2064**

**RAID Harrier Gunship **_**Baby Visceroid**_

**En Route to RAID Landing Zone**

**Near Vladivostok, Russia**

**Red Zone**

Sarah checked the charge on the GD-10 Commando rifle she had been given, courtesy of Commander Ricardo Vega, McNeil's top RAID Commander and frontline soldier. The RAID soldiers brought along had all been cleared by Ahsoka and McNeil, given the delicacy of the operation, and all were trustworthy soldiers who knew how precarious the situation could become if it became public. Sarah had brought along a small, but elite team of Zone Troopers, Raiders and several of the newly re-trained Zone Rangers to assist, as well as some of the Firestorm Taskforce's engineers, whom had been outfitted with new armor equipped with jump jets to allow them to almost skip across the land, even water as long as they didn't stop. They were all of similar trustworthiness.

"So," Vega asked, "You're Sarah Granger eh? Don't look like what scuttlebutt said."

"Besides the Zone Raider armor, I presume?" Sarah responded coolly, opting to maintain neutrality with her voice until she could determine what Vega was going at.

"Yeah. Some of them said you had electronic wires visible all over your face, even lacing in and out, and that you had guns for hands. Guess they were exaggerating… again. Still, I'd like to see how you do before judging you. And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to go through what you did."

Sarah nodded, knowing that he had almost prevented the whole Mount Cheyenne incident by almost destroying a Nod convoy that would have given the Marked of Kane their finishing touch, and truly made them the force they were, whereas before they were mostly upgraded versions of Second Tiberium War ear cyborgs. "Thanks, it's appreciated, but let's save the pity for the poor sods were going after, know what I mean?"

Vega grinned as his sealed his advanced armor's helmet, "Excellent rebuttal, Captain Granger. Alright, we're heading in. Lock and load, I want a clean sweep, and _remember_, we're here to get some samples of this Nod tech, see if we can't find its weakness, so check your aim and for once, if it looks valuable, _don't_ shoot it."

Sarah heard several affirmatives, and the RAID Harriers began to touch down in mainland Vladivostok.

"Alright," Vega said as he stepped off the Harrier, "I want a clean sweep of the docks, make sure there aren't any Nod warehouses. Captain Granger, take your squad and check out the old Soviet tech center, make sure Nod isn't renovating it or anything."

Sarah nodded, getting her strike team together, and they went towards the old tech center in the northern part of the city. As they patrolled the Tiberium infested city, Sarah spotted one: an Awakened, but instead of bearing the scorpion's tail of Nod, it had a different symbol.

It was, like the normal Nod symbol, a stylized triangle. Unlike it however, it had a full scorpion depicted, poised in a strike position. The Awakened saw Sarah, and opened fire.

"Incoming!" Sarah shouted as the first burst of bullets slammed into her armor, knocking her backwards, stumbling, and knocking the wind out of her. _Thank God for Zone Armor…_ she thought as she fired her borrowed GD-10, satisfied to hear the primary weapon of it, a Rail Carbine, go off with a solid burst of machinegun-like fire, killing the Awakened quickly.

Several more Awakened appeared, similarly marked, and opened fire. The Taskforce's Zone Troopers responded quickly however, rolling out of the way and shot their targets dead… er.

Arriving at the almost ancient-looking laboratory, Sarah gently opened the door… and it collapsed.

"Heh, guess 'delicate' shouldn't be done by Zone Armored people." One of the engineers commented, walking inside. "Yeah, no, we aren't going to get anything useful in here, place looks like it was raided a decade ago… probably more, closed since the end of World War Two."

Sarah nodded, "Check anyways, you never know. Hope you all retrofitted the advanced scanners into the armor."

She got a chorus of affirmatives, and they quickly and efficiently checked, and found nothing, even the Vodka bottles (now Tiberium polluted) were untouched for well over a hundred years.

"Vladivostok never did recover," commented a Russian Zone Raider, "from the Allied hit on it. Reportedly, they teleported in."

Sarah nodded, "You recall the history texts on the era, right?"

"Yeah. Some 'Chronosphere' thing… wasn't that thing scrapped because it was ridiculously hazardous?"

"That is was," Sarah answered, "Hence why neither GDI nor Nod used it after the war." _Except Kane to bring Rex from his home… dimension?... to Earth…_ "Come on, we're done here."

Heading back to the staging area, Vega was organizing his squad, several RAID Predator Tanks had also been landed for combat… what was unique however, about these tanks, was they were modified with some form of bar above, which spun like a radar dish, and the tank turret itself was modified, resembling an older M1 Abrams rather than the modern Predator, but built upon the chassis of a Predator Tank. As she passed one, she felt slightly dizzy, not enough to be a problem, but enough to raise a warning flag to her. It went away suspiciously as she left the area of the tankenstien Predator. Vega nodded as Sarah approached, "Ah, Captain, good. Anything at the Tech lab?"

"Nothing, just century old Vodka."

"Any good?"

"Unless you want to wind up a Visceroid, no."

"Shame. Alright, we're about to head in to the base, it's hugged on the southern side; near the old Soviet military base… actually, the base was replaced by a Nod separatist base and cloaked. Plan is pretty simple, a radar scan reveals the base and we rush in with everything we have, clear out any base defenses, disable the MCV, and secure the area."

Sarah nodded, checking the charge on her equipment.

A minute later, they were en route, sneaking through the ruins while the four RAID tanks rolled down the streets.

They reached where the old Soviet base was, supposedly, and sure enough, after a radar scan, courtesy of the GST _Methuselah_ as it was overhead in the stratosphere on its way to a Japan TCN construction site, revealed the base.

"That's it, _go go go!_" Vega shouted, firing a rocket from the under-slung rocket launcher on his GD-10. Sarah jump jetted over, as did the Taskforce's Zone Infantry, excluding the Rangers, who moved to vantage points and began applying sniper fire into the base, picking of Awakened cyborgs and Black Hand Disciples with ease, covering the advance.

Sarah activated her jump jets again, feeling herself thrusted into the sky, and came crashing down, pinning an Awakened to the ground with her landing and shooting it in the face, disabling it semi-permanently. Emptying her clip, she let a long spray of rounds loose from her GD-10, taking Awakened down and 'accidently' setting off the fuel tanks on the backs of the Black Hand infantry. A dozen tanks, modified Scorpion tanks with bigger guns and what looked like heavier armor, rolled out of a shed, and, ignoring the infantry, went out to engage the RAID tanks that were rolling in.

Sarah took a moment to see the RAID tanks in action, the first ECG volley, much to Sarah's surprise, missed, even though a good number of the tanks were using highly-accurate lasers rather than cannon fire. The RAID tanks came out of the first volley unscathed, and returned fire, focusing on one tank and destroying it, then moving onto the other. The volleys aimed at the RAID tanks seemed to magically missed, as if at the last second, the gun turned away from its targets.

_That's a new one,_ Sarah thought as she turned back to her problem, getting into an ECG technology lab. Rushing forward, shooting the door a few times at the joints to loosen it, and kicking the door open, she rolled in, shooting a pair of ECG guards and heading inside…

She, to her little surprise, found a large cybernetic lab in the center, the red-glassed dome above creating an evil red color in the interior, but Sarah was used to seeing shades of red, so it didn't hinder her at all. What surprised her was how many tubes there were, much of the long room were filled with them in neat rows… and inside those water tubes, were men and women, stripped down to what looked like bare undergarments maintaining the briefest modicum of modesty. Above, lines of various armor plating and guns were being rolled over to what seemed to be a stockpile near one larger tank. Although she was not a scientist, her experience told her instantly what it was. _Life-support tanks, dozens of them… ECG is building a cyborg army! Long as I take them out before they begin cyborg conversion, I should be able to capture the ones in the tanks… or save, depending on how willingly they chose to become cyborgs…_

She looked down the hall and saw a man being modified, two robotic arms busy with the delicate surgery of creating a cyborg. _He's gone already, but I can stop the rest from suffering what I've gone through._

Several Awakened came out of two doors at the end of the long hallway, and rushed towards her. She rolled back as the first bullets clanged against the floor, and with practiced aim, shot each cyborg down, taking care to avoid collateral damage, recalling why she was there. _We need to capture this stuff, so I have to watch my fire._

She rushed forward through one of the doors, shooting another Awakened down, and found herself in a control room where an ECG Saboteur was busy working, manning a console.

"What the… why you little!" the Saboteur shouted, rushing out the door, but Sarah shot the door controls out, causing it to shut in the Saboteur's face, causing him to slam into it and stumbled back. She rushed forward, turned him around, punched him in the gut to knock the wind out of him, and slammed him to the wall, causing his helmet to crack open. Cueing her radio, "Commander Vega, send in the engineers, Technology lab secured, confirmed cybernetic production and it's intact."

"Copy that Captain, sending them in. We've cleaned up most of the outside base."

"Understood."

XXXXX

**One Hour Later**

**Captured Enlightened Cult of Gideon Dockside Base**

**Vladivostok, Russia**

**Red Zone**

Sarah watched as the engineers loaded the life support tubes onto a GDI Harrier. They had discovered, upon releasing those within, that almost all of them were willing volunteers, a few having given into peer pressure, but the rest were almost happy to undergo the change, as Gideon had promised not to enslave them to a central computer and instead to let them willingly become cyborgs to wage war against Nod, and when the war was over, return to their lives (presumably, Gideon would have cybernetic implants to allow them to generally return to their original status). All those released had been carried away by RAID transports already for interrogation at General Nagama's base in Hiroshima.

"Gotta say," Vega said, walking up, his rifle slung over his shoulder casually, "You impressed me, capturing the whole tech center by yourself."

Sarah nodded, "Wasn't tough actually, there weren't many guards. Impressive tanks, by the way."

"Thanks, they're a new model from GDI R they're called _Sheppard Tanks_, after General Mark Sheppard from the First Tiberium War. They use some new disruptor technology 'borrowed' from Nod stealth tanks. It doesn't provide full stealth, but then again, the tank wouldn't be stealthy for long. Instead, it disrupts targeting, making any lock hazy in an area around it, so if I tried to target it from anywhere, I'd have to go back to basic targeting rather than using a laser sight. We're still working out the kinks in the system, but by the time it's finalized, they say that they'll be able to use settings much like our sonic weaponry, set to certain frequency, and we become immune to its effects ourselves. Of course, if we're close to it in close-quarter combat, I doubt we need a laser-lock or similar to tell us where to shoot."

Sarah nodded, "Which would certainly make the already incredible GDI tank survival rate much higher. Any news on political backlash for the raid?"

"Nope," Vega said, "McNeil just got off the horn, Riggs believes we totaled the base, and he is going to tell that to Kane. Kane, being Nod's leader, will obviously be interested that ECG has cybernetic technology."

Sarah nodded. While lying to a general wasn't good form, the Firestorm Taskforce had authorization for more clandestine research, and Nod cybernetics easily fell into the category. _And yet… we have the ulterior motive, with the tech, _I_ can adjust and replace cybernetics without having to kiss up to Nod… was that what drove me, or did I really care about how Nod's cybernetics could potentially benefit humanity? Assuming we found a proper use for them, that is._

She shook such thoughts out of her head; they weren't going to help her in the near future, she could argue morality when she didn't have a job to do.

"I do hope," Vega said, "That your cybernetics don't prevent you from sharing a good drink with us."

"Not at all," Sarah said, "Just not as much as I used to."

Vega nodded, "Good, we finally found a non-Tiberium infested crate of Vodka, First World War era and perfectly safe."

Sarah raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't that be strong enough to knock out a mutant after just a few cups?"

"Probably," Vega said, shrugging. "Besides, we all got Leave for a few days to unwind."

Sarah nodded, "A few sips then, I'm still not sure how much alcohol I can take given the cybernetics."

"Well, first things first, we got a mission to finish off and controversial technology to escort to a Taskforce base… by the way, if you ask me, cyborgs aren't _all_ bad… it's just the ones that are slaved to a central computer, someone with a replacement arm doesn't strike me as a bad person, unless of course, they were _already_."

"I appreciate it," Sarah answered, "Means a lot, given some of the reactions I've gotten when someone figured it out."

Vega nodded, "By the way, you didn't hear it from me… but some of the boys tell some serious stories about your commander, Ahsoka's her name, right? She's practically a GDI folk heroine, up there with McNeil, Havoc, Rex of course, and General Solomon… luckily, she's just described as a 'beauty even the stars can't match in it's exoticness', and I think she'd appreciate how they leave her appearance in the air."

Blinking, Sarah pondered on that a moment… _Of course_, she realized, _Ahsoka's done a _lot_ within GDI… she's fought battles, hell, she heroically faced two Scrin elite commanders in a duel, keeping them from having adverse affects on us at Ground Zero and easily letting us advance like we did…_

"I think," Sarah said, "she's already aware of it, but only suspicions."

"Do what you want with the scuttlebutt," Vega said, nodding. "Oh, keep the GD-10, think you'll like it better then the wrist-mounted cutting lasers they plan on issuing Zone Raiders."

XXXXX

**July 14****th****, 2064**

**Manchester, UK**

**Steel Talons Recruitment Center**

**Blue Zone**

Coric walked in, inhaling. His mother had signed off on it, albeit over a secure EVA link, and he was now heading in for some basic training, which would hopefully supplement what Rex (who actually had no idea what he was about to be doing) had taught him over the years. It was going to officially start today for him.

The recruitment officer saw him, and sat up, hiding something under the desk. "How can I help you?"

"Here for pre-basic training," Coric answered, holding out the ID card and pulling out the consent forms.

The officer nodded, "Ah, good to see the heir of such a good legacy. Mitchell told me to direct you straight to him; hang on, let me get you a security pass."

Handing him a small keycard that Coric recognized as access for most Steel Talon secondary facilities (such as toilets, rifle ranges, and even non-lethal weapons such as a permanently-on-stun pistol), and directed him to the rifle range. When he entered, he found Mitchell practicing. Waiting for Mitchell to finish, Coric saluted, "General Mitchell."

Mitchell, his face slightly covered in soot, almost leapt up, "Ah, Coric. Good to know it's official now. Checked the school grades, you're all set. Wanted to talk to you first though, before it begins properly… oh, at ease, come on, you aren't in the army _yet_ for God's sake, save the salutes and fancy formalities for when they're actually _needed_."

Checking the safety and putting the rifle in the rack, Mitchell dusted himself off and walked towards one of the smaller conference rooms.

"This is off the record, of course." Mitchell said, "Now, I think you know it already, but you might be Rex's son, but they're still going to push you pretty hard."

"I guessed as much," Coric answered, _Of course, Rex already helped me with a lot of the basics with the idea of if I'm ever in a combat situation, which might make it seem like a teacher's pet… well, I'll just have to deal with it._

"Alright then. They're going to mostly be doing infantry training, the stuff even engineers get, so don't expect to be learning to drive Titians, Rex wouldn't let anyone under military age get even close to a military vehicle or even simulators for them, the most you'd get would be a general overview of the capabilities of various vehicles."

Coric nodded again, and Mitchell continued, "Now, if you do continue on with the military, you're going to likely wind up with the Steel Talons or an infantry division, depending on your choice, but that's just so you have something in mind. Now, any questions?"

"Yes," Coric said, "Rex still doesn't know, right?"

"No, he doesn't." Mitchell's eyes dropped a moment, "I hate going behind his back like this, but you've made it clear you're going to join GDI even if you have to start from scratch. Two parents in the corps, albeit at different levels and divisions, makes it tough not to because of expectations."

"Well, the chances of living up to them aren't that likely unless I kill Kane or something to that effect," Coric answered slyly, to which Mitchell grinned ever so slightly.

"Well then," Mitchell said, "You got class, off you go… it'll be starting in half an hour, training room C-4."

Coric nodded, and left.

XXXXX

**Nightfall**

Coric, along side his best friend, Warren Parker, walked out of the Talon's training center, tired, but satisfied. The course had, mostly, bored him because much of it was basics, some of which he learned before he was even in the first grade simply by seeing either of his parents in the range. However, afterwards, they did some rigorous training, which had left most of them tired (which the training sergeant said was to be expected, given they didn't expect all of them to be fully in shape yet).

Lilly, Warren's brother, was waiting for them, her auburn hair worn long, her skin light and flawless; she was a true beauty to behold. _To think,_ Coric thought, _that we've had our eyes on each other since pre-K._ Some noticed their last name was the same of the famed GDI Commando Nick Seymour "Havoc" Parker, in fact, they were related to him, great-grand niece-and-nephew, on Havoc's sister's side, of course, as Havoc never married (as while certainly attractive to most women as a 'big, strong man', his attitude tended to push them away quickly).

"So, you're serious about this, aren't you?" Lilly began, almost sighing.

"I am," Coric answered.

"So am I," Warren explained, "Come on, you know that GDI needs every hand they can get, the sooner we get ready, the better we'll be in the future. Besides, certain expectations of family, you know, come on, uncle Havvy taught both of us to kill a man fifteen different ways with our bear left hands."

Lilly scowled, "He taught _you_ to kill someone fifteen different ways, I took more _useful_ pursuits." Her expression softened, "Well, I supposed I lost the argument before I began arguing. Come on, let's go, we might find ourselves late for our reservation."

Coric smiled as he took her hand. _Tonight is going to be a good one, three friends and something good to eat for once._

_XXXXX_

**Meanwhile**

**Nod Headquarters**

**Codename:**

_**Dark Knight Actual**_

**Manchester, UK**

**Blue Zone**

Kane snarled as he looked at several of his commanders, watching the hologram of Flame Tanks causing havoc in multiple Yellow Zones replay _again_.

"And you said; you all _said_; that the Flame Tank was outdated." Kane finally said, looking at them. "And look, the Separatists are hitting us hard and running, we were _lucky_ that our Scorpions can even slow them down!"

One of the commanders took a step back, and said, "P…p…. Prophet, there was no indication the Flame Tank could be updated and readied, the sudden change of chemical cocktail was unknown to us, it just wasn't known! Our science…"

He dropped dead with a Wilhelm scream, almost humping the table as he landed on it, a smoking bullet hole in his chest. One of the officers gave him a light tap and he slid off. Kane looked at him with anger, the pistol in his hands. "Anyone _else_ have an excuse?"

They all shook their heads rapidly, Kane nodded harshly, the glare in his eyes, the intimidating stare, more than enough to drop lesser men _dead_, "I expect you all to have created a new Flame Tank design by the end of the year, or your fate will be _his_. Take advantage of our alliance with GDI; make it a _true_ threat on the battlefield."

With that, the various commanders scurried out to get their scientists in order for the project.

He shook his head, and nearby, a blue hologram appeared (due to a GDI transmitter being used for Riggs' channel), General Riggs.

"General," Kane nodded politely, as he liked Riggs more then most in GDI, _except for the part where politicians can manipulate them… so few are perfect, in fact, none may be perfect…_ "To what do I owe this visit?"

"A report you'd be interested it," Riggs answered. Kane raised an eyebrow. _A report that GDI had first and my spies could not detect?_

"Very well, let's hear it." Kane said as he sat down, Riggs nodded, typing something on his end. On Kane's screen, a report, filed by GDI RAID division General Michael McNeil, (_that cocky, arrogant _**kid**_ who foiled me in the Second Tiberium War_, Kane reminded himself), about a Nod Separatist base in Vladivostok, Russia, which had been taken out in a RAID raid… and it had Marked of Kane cybernetic facilities, all of which were now destroyed, smoking rubble, a scorched earth raid.

_WHAT?!_ Kane thought, surprised, his hand gripping his gun tighter, _How did that little upstart Gideon get access to my… there has been treachery, and it will be dealt with…_

Concealing his anger with millennium of experience, he nodded, and said, "Thank you for the report, General Riggs. I will have Brother Alphus look into it."

Riggs nodded, "Very well." And with that, his hologram flickered out. Kane put a hand on his forehead. _This is a minor setback… but potentially lethal. It does not take a man with the countless years of experience, such as myself, to see it. Any child can see how little things implode long, well-drawn, plans, it happens all the time in Saturday morning cartoons._ "LEGION," Kane said, his mind made.

"Yes, Kane?" LEGION responded, appearing on Kane's screen.

"I want a division organized to go to Siberia, Marked of Kane only. Find out how our cybernetic technology fell into Gideon's hands."

"It shall be done." LEGION said, and disappeared from the screen, but Kane knew that LEGION was always on call.

_Soon,_ Kane knew, _Soon, all will be in place for Ascension._

_XXXXX_

**July 15****th****, 2064**

**Tenzai Robotics**

**Tokyo, Japan**

**Blue Zone**

Sarah felt the cold rush towards and into her as she was dipped in the life support tank. Doctor Johann Pascal was standing out side, checking her status on a handheld computer. He was a brilliant scientist with an IQ higher than Einstein's, but only by a point or so. Regardless, he was a controversial member of the scientific community, willing to branch towards culturally forbidden sciences, cybernetics one of them. He worked for the Firestorm Taskforce, but he was a nominal member only, being one of the minds behind a new aircraft/walker in prototypical phases in Tokyo as they were doing such. He also worked for Idris as his main job, and had done a brilliant job with the TCN, and theorized to be part of why it was working so well in the contaminated areas and restoring the cities, even if it, at times, was somewhat pasting over of what was there with city.

Pascal was a Caucasian man, with a dusky hair color, and light brown eyes. He looked up at Sarah, whom had her helmet removed, a breathe mask now over her face with eye protection over her eyes, and said, "Alright, everything checks out. You ready?"

Sarah gave a thumbs up. Pascal moved away and began typing into his console, "OK, this may sting a bit…"

Sarah felt intense pain shoot up her legs as Pascal removed the armor plating from her armor one by one, starting with her feet, using the cybernetic technology taken from the ECG base, exact replicas of what Kane used in cyborg production and modification. _Should be used to this by now,_ Sarah decided as her shin almost exploded in pain as the armor plate there was removed, revealing some of the wiring, _and it'll probably come a few more times._

The chest plate was finally removed, leaving her down to a bra, which did not conceal some of the electronics that came close to the surface, just under her skin, but the removed armguards revealed wires intertwined with her arms, legs, and even her back also had wires intertwined, holding her spine together, as it was fragile when she was recreated, and was still recovering, but Sarah dared not consider removing the wires, even now, knowing quite well that the artificial heart, or rather, parts of one, design to supplement what was left and restore her to life, had connections there.

Time bended away as she fought the urge to scream, focusing on anything she could grasp to keep the pain down as the cybernetics were modified.

XXXXX

Ahsoka watch Sarah as her armor was upgraded from the just-pre Third Tiberium War era suit, and so were the cybernetic implants, with newer parts, particularly for up-linking with the new armor… she was positively shocked upon seeing some of the metal that had replaced her chest, where she had been shot lethally. Doctor Pascal looked at Ahsoka, he had always found her interesting due to the fact she wasn't a human's definition of normal, and he was not aware of the truth. He said, "It's supposed to be painful, there isn't anything that says there's a painkiller that works, actually, it said painkillers destroyed the process. That's one thing I really hate about cybernetics, but otherwise… I don't see how a cybernetic arm or leg is a bad thing if you loose it."

Ahsoka nodded, not really paying attention, the pain, even if it was only from Sarah, was so intense that Ahsoka didn't need to open herself to the Force to sense it, it was just _there_, like seeing and hearing an Ion Cannon strike in the distance, on the horizon even.

XXXXX

After what seemed time immemorial, the pain receded, but was still there, and the waters in the tank began to recede. The life support mask disconnected, and she was no longer suspended, landing albeit roughly on the floor, the tube's super-strong material proving enough to avoid breaking. The new cybernetics hurt, she knew it'd be a while before her body was used to them, she had experienced that before. _Makes getting braces seem like a cakewalk,_ she decided.

Sarah blinked as the tube was lifted away. She glanced at her gauntleted hands… instead of the damaged gunmetal grey; the gauntlets were a new beige color. She looked down, the same for all her armor, one uniform color all across.

"You can customize it later," Pascal said, "For now, let's make sure it's all working, I _really_ don't want to have to put you through that anymore then necessary. Alright, when you're ready, trying walking, moving your hands like this, basic locomotion."

After a series of basic tests, Pascal concluded it had gone well, "Alright, everything checks out. The new helmet should be in your room, Captain Granger, and the new Jump Jets will be ready soon as well."

With that, Pascal left, writing notes down in a clipboard. Ahsoka walked up and glanced at Sarah.

"Something wrong?" Sarah asked, noting a concerned expression on Ahsoka's face.

"Yeah…" Ahsoka paused, as if wondering how to put it, "You know I've gone face to face with a cyborg… one sort of like you… but he just kept getting more improvements…"

Sarah caught on quick, remembering Rex describing the cyborg she was referring to. _Grievous was the bastard's name… and supposedly, he took the cybernetics as an improvement to face people like Ahsoka, except fully trained… well, Ahsoka is arguably fully trained now, just differently then the mainstream._

But she also knew what worried Ahsoka; _She's worried I'll wind up like Grievous, looking for new and better parts to augment myself with to become the most dangerous thing in the world…_

"I appreciate the concern," Sarah said tactfully as she stumbled, not used to the slightly bulkier armor, smaller then most of the new generation armor she had seen, "Hey, is this the actual new armor?"

"No, it's been modified," Ahsoka explained, "Smaller, but just as strong. I figured you should be a bit tighter, if you know what I mean. Come on, most Zoners would be bumping door sides if they wore the regular stuff, so I had it modified, the composites are tighter together, though it took some special work on Pascal's part for it to work, hence why it's not standard-issue. It'll cover you just as well as the standard armor, maybe even a bit better, but it'll be smaller, maybe given you an extra two inches all around? Definitely better than your old armor at least, that's what, two decades and a year old by now?"

"Pretty much," Sarah said.

"Well, good news is you can keep the old suit," Ahsoka explained, "It's practically been customized for you specifically due to the cybernetic modifications."

Sarah nodded, "It saw me through twenty plus years, and the technology in it is pretty old at this point, isn't it? Almost museum vintage."

"It is."

"I'll have to think on it then. So, what's next?"

Ahsoka grinned, "Well, you probably should customize the armor, that beige is giving me an eyesore. I liked the GDI silver-grey-white mix myself. But we can get that done back at base."

But something was still troubling her, even with the grin.

"Ahsoka," Sarah said, "There's still something bothering you."

Ahsoka sighed, "It's the pain, I didn't even need to open myself up to it, I could feel it like I was at the minimum safe distance of an Ion Cannon blast… I don't understand how you can live like that."

Something clicked in Sarah's head then… _Kane must of modified my nerves, or whatever receives pain, so they aren't as sensitive to pain… I should be insane from the pain, thinking about it... but I'm not. Strength of mind, or deliberate 'modification'?_

"Ahsoka," Sarah said, looking over Ahsoka carefully as they walked out the door from the laboratory, "Someone's suggested using cybernetics for our soldiers, haven't they?"

"Yes," Ahsoka answered, letting her eyes shut, "RAID's forward commander, Vega, suggested it to me."

That surprised Sarah considerably, but Ahsoka continued, "I told him I'm not subjecting any of my men to cybernetic process', unless they're wholly willing volunteers, and even then I won't until I'm sure that it won't affect them adversely later on in life. Nod might not care for the lives of its soldiers, but _I_ do, even if I've lead them straight to death with my decisions."

Something hit Sarah… a story Rex had told her regarding his General when he was with the Republic, way before the Chronosphere took him to Earth, and how his General was technically a cyborg due to a mechanical hand…

"What about to replace lost limbs?" Sarah suggested as the train of thought was early for every stop, "I see nothing wrong with using it to replace lost limbs, once the technology is more reliable of course."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'm pretty much only willing to go that far if the recipient accepts it, even then I'm hesitant because well… it's kind of cheapening out of facing a fact of life, limb loss."

XXXXX

**Evening**

**July 16****th****, 2064**

**Firestorm Taskforce Field Base**

**Iwo Jima**

**Blue Zone**

Sarah, her armor recolored to GDI silver-white on the chest and legs with a darker brown for the shoulder guards, shin guards, boots, and gauntlets, the same color scheme of the Third Tiberium War era Zone Raiders; sat down in the mess hall with the other GDI soldiers, most of whom actually ate in their Zone Armor due to a new regulation issued by Rios with backing of the GDI Council, all soldiers are to remain in armor and uniform unless on leave, and bunks were in the process of appropriate modification, but most Zone infantry just stuffed a pillow into the suit's neck and found a quiet spot for the moment. Many even used it on missions, as the pillows were quite comfortable, but occasionally got in the way, and most soldiers preferred to be able to feel the environment, and a fluffy pillow denied that. Fortunately, the Taskforce's Pacific base had been outfitted with extra-large and durable utensils, as it was one of the first on the list to be so upgraded. The news was on, and that night, a very hot debate was going to be raging.

"Turn it up," said one of the Taskforce's Zone Rangers as W3N turned on. William Frank appeared as the audio was turned up.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," William Frank began, "W3N shall be the medium tonight for two different links for this debate. Gentlemen, please."

To William's left, a hologram of Kane appeared, but instead of the common Nod red hologram, it was a colored one, akin to GDI's recent model. Gideon appeared in Nod red however, on the opposite side. It was clear to Sarah then why both had gained such followings.

"The debate, for those unaware, was requested by Gideon, and Kane accepted, but since this was to be a public challenge, W3N was asked to host it. The message was delivered by tight-beam messaging, no coding involved besides transmission. Now, gentlemen, let's begin."

Kane nodded, knowing quite well that the followers of both parties, plus much of the world, were watching.

Gideon however, began speaking almost immediately, "This is _my_ question to you, 'prophet', why did you betray the fundamentals of Nod?"

Kane shook his head, "The fundamentals of Nod." He almost snorted, "You betrayed the whole Brotherhood, and nearly destroyed our objectives."

"You know as well as I, prophet, that the so-called TCN will compromise the world's Tiberium future!"

"Think for a moment, Gideon, think. Has it ever been written what the Tiberium future would be _exactly_?"

"Of course not, it should not need to be." Gideon hotly retorted, "It's obvious to any who've read our sacred texts, heard our noble missionaries, and see the technology of peace. Tiberium will cover the world and trigger the next stage of our evolution."

Kane shook his head, "The TCN _is_ the future, Gideon. You cannot stop it. You can try, but you will be crushed like a cockroach faced with a Titian of the Steel Talons."

"Interesting choice of words from the man who had the main tank of Nod, what should have been the symbol of our military might, more cockroach then Scorpion, and you are already replacing it with your so-called _Avenger_ main battle tank."

"I was not the one who developed the tank, either the Scorpion or the Avenger. Gideon, you know as well as I do that it was Marcion who was behind the Scorpion tank, my generals found it useful, and useful it was to them."

"As vehicular cannon fodder. Think, prophet, why should the masses be sent to battle where they _are_ little more then cannon fodder?"

Kane shook his head, "The faithful rallied to arms, I followed _them_ in the choice of the militants. No, not all were fit for military service as previous generations of Nod soldiers were, but they would not be dissuaded, so I let them, and they knew the possibilities when they insisted. It was an area, like habits, that children must learn, and so I let them learn, to what became the strength of many of them."

"And yet, when you chose to give them proper equipment, all you did was make them mindless _slaves_ to your will. Do you understand _why_ the Black Hand left you?"

"You mean your mere scrap of them? Yes, I have deduced it well, Gideon. It was not a difficult thing to ponder. You left seeing the TCN as weakness, as baseline betrayal. You saw the Marked of Kane, those who _willingly_ sacrificed all for the cause, as sheep to a slaughter, cannon fodder. You saw the neural interface that allows them to coordinate instantly without the need of verbal commands, which they only use to double check or interact with those _not_ so made as the slavery we fight… fought, given the current alliance. You believed Nod should be small, few, elite… yet you still deploy your forces will the tactical skill of a child, and your forces have shown few improvements, and launch mass, grandiose strikes that truly have little effects. You are only a fraction of the Brotherhood, acting like the whole… and in that, you fail."

"So you say, false one. But your spies, that is, the ones I haven't already hanged from Tiberium glaciers already, should of mentioned a major revival within the true representation of Nod."

"If you refer to your cybernetic facilities, yes, I'm aware of them… and GDI has already _humiliated_ you by utterly destroying your secret one in Vladivostok."

Gideon, evidently, had _not_ heard of that, as shock registered on his face.

"Gideon, you are young and brash. You have the charisma, I see a bit of my own in you, yes; but you have not the _experience_ to use it. In the coming days, you will realize that. Yes... You will learn, and most likely the hard way."

Gideon shook his head, "Ah Prophet… you _really_ think I did this just for kicks and giggles? No… I believe you should be getting a present about now…"

Kane's connection suddenly cut, the Nod leader disappearing as his hologram faded. Gideon then appeared on the screen, two banners with his personal insignia in the back were visible, the room covered with fog, concealing much of it. Another screen, like those often used in GDI transmissions and EVA briefings, appeared, showing a burning wreck, a GDI Harrier Gunship with dead Nod soldiers around it… clearly those of Kane's personal guard.

"Brothers, Sisters… the false prophet will be dead by the time you find him. His personal ship will have exploded. GDI… impressive protection for such a _murderer_, hiding him on a nameless Harrier Gunship in the middle of secured no-where while relaying his signal through a dozen transmitters… but you'll find that such is easy for my hackers to trace. The false prophet is dead… or will be soon. Join now, join the true power of Nod, brothers, sisters, and let us bring about the golden age of Tiberium! The TCN is weak, it _can fall_!"

Suddenly, Kane appeared, and said, with some serious attitude that screamed smugly confident in an inspiring way, "As I told Marcion before you, and Hassan before him, you _can't kill the Messiah!_"

Gideon was positively shocked, almost stumbling back… and the feed cut back to W3N, where William was sitting, surprised, and Kane's hologram reappeared.

"Something tells me," William said, "the debate is over. Thank you all for your time… in the meanwhile, we'll give you the latest on various other things that go on in the world. Brenda, talk to me."

The screen cued to a TCN construction site in Africa.

"Alls good William," Brenda answered, "This node is safe, the Forgotten having protected us from the rogue mutants and Nod separatists. However, there is a large question running around the camp, what will happen to the mutants who are members of the Forgotten after the TCN is complete, assuming it works at all?"

Sarah shook her head as the news continued on, the main point of interest lost amongst the crowd.

"Well," Ahsoka commented as she sat down near Sarah, "That was interesting to watch, even if it was short."

"Well, Gideon is definitely insane," Sarah commented, "And he's getting more powerful."

"Evidently. Soon as we finish up in breaking the Pacific Tigers' backs, we're probably going to go after _Gideon's_."

XXXXXX

**July 23****rd****, 2064**

**Guadalcanal**

**Noon**

**Firestorm Taskforce Invasion**

**Red Zone**

"Battleships, target enemy bunker at grid square Charlie-alpha two."

"Keep the fire hot, gunners; cover the boys and girls going in."

"Mutant forces are coming up on the beach with scrap tanks, target those sons of bitches!"

"Copy that, redirecting… launching rocket, heads up down there!"

"Nice shot, confirmed kills."

"Red six, one on your tail."

"I'm on it Blue Leader!"

"Ice-Nine, I got a lock on an enemy AA battery, totaling it now!"

"Hell yeah!... Keep the shells comin'!"

"Charlie six is down, I repeat, down, we got wounded!"

Ahsoka listened to the chatter as Harrier gunships began their landing, landing Titians, loaned RAID Sheppard Tanks, and various Zone Infantry.

The Harrier which Ahsoka was on landed, its guns blazing to keep the Landing Zone clear, and Ahsoka rushed off, a squad of Zone Troopers and a Zone Ranger right behind her as she lit her lightsaber, charging at the gun emplacements. Zone Armor proved more then capable of taking the bullets spraying at them in wide, inaccurate lines and potshots. Firehawks and Orca Mark V's flew in, strafing the enemy ground positions, particularly fortified bunkers. Heavily modified Orca Fighters, belonging to the Pacific Tiger's _Flying Leopard_ division, were launching from the airbase and flying out to engage the GDI air units, but the GDI Orcas were quickly neutralizing them with their Comet-class missiles, which were brutally effective against most aircraft. Firehawks, deploying from the recently recovered Aircraft Carrier, the _GDS Valkyrie_, were bombing the base. Guadalcanal had become a primary base for the mutant Pacific Tiger clan, who had repeatedly attacked TCN construction sites and were responsible for the major attack on GDI forces in Japan and a sneak attack on Tokyo that almost worked. Now the Firestorm Taskforce was about to catch their leadership with their pants down and end the threat, if all went well, for good.

Several rockets exploded near Ahsoka's position, sending a few Zone Troopers away to death's grasp. Enemy APC/Tank hybrids rolled up to engage the landing soldiers, but the Sheppard Tanks proved superior, and the Titians were able to just stomp on them and destroy them. As Ahsoka rushed up, she reached one of the bunkers, despite the barrage, the low-height bunkers were surprisingly resilient and being missed, despite constant bombing runs. Cutting a hole into the top and hurling the concrete circular slab away towards the mutant base, she leapt in and cut down the guards, clearing the bunker out.

"Captain Horn to Commander Tano, we are making a run on the enemy front lines. Please advise your units to stay back, over."

"Copy that Captain Horn, Firestorm Taskforce units, pull towards safe range."

Several of the fast-advancing groups pulled back as fast as they advanced, and held position, securing the beachhead fully as the remaining reinforcements were landed.

Nine Firehawks, in three Shield Trios, flew in and bombed the enemy frontlines, creating a firestorm as their bombs hit. The Firehawks pulled back to reload, but not before a strafing run with their machine guns to catch any straggler infantry.

"Captain Horn to Firestorm Ground units, you are clear to advance, just watch the fireworks we left."

"Let's go!" Ahsoka shouted, taking point. She caught a glimpse of Sarah engaging a mutant in hand-to-hand combat and winning, hurling the mutant into a burning trench with enough force to shatter skulls.

A Sheppard Tank moved up near Ahsoka, but she did not become dizzy, as Sarah always did around the jamming, which hadn't been fixed. Ahsoka was interestingly immune to it, though it might be because Ahsoka tended to use her lightsaber, a melee weapon, over a ranged weapon, or because she wasn't human. Regardless, Ahsoka kept the charge going; advancing towards the airbase with little difficulty as the mutants broke off, fleeing towards the center of the island. A final group of enemy fighters took off, but the GDI Orca air support shot them down, and proceeded to harass enemy forces all over the area.

As Ahsoka reached the airfield, she rushed into the communications tower, rushing up the stairs, and disabling it, catching their commander off guard and subduing him.

Pointing her ignited lightsaber at the enemy commander's throat, Ahsoka said, "Tell your forces to surrender."

"Never!" the mutant commander shouted, purposefully and deliberately rolling forward, killing himself upon Ahsoka's lightsaber before she could pull it out of the way or turn it off.

"Stang," she muttered to herself as she shut the lightsaber off, letting the two halves of the former enemy commander fall upon the ground with mundane finality. She then looked outside as her wrist EVA beeped… a large rocket from a battleship was flying right for the command tower!

"**Incoming friendly Tactical Artillery Rocket!"** EVA warned.

"Bit late EVA!" Ahsoka shouted as she ignited her lightsaber, cutting an X into a window, using the Force to blast it open, and leapt out. The rocket sped into the tower, which exploded spectacularly as the rocket hit, collapsing down upon a row of mutant APC/Tank hybrids that were unscrewed. Landing roughly, using the Force to avoid killing herself with the fall, Ahsoka rolled forward, landing on her hands and knees at the end of it.

"Commander, you alright?" Sarah asked, rushing up, the final signs of the battle beginning to quiet.

"Yeah," Ahsoka said, "But these guys are fanatical. Doubt we've seen the last of them."

"Probably not," Sarah said, "Come on, let's finish this off."

"Hang on, I'm detecting a group of Ironbacks," Ajay said, appearing on their wrist EVAs, "You know, the mutant walkers."

Ahsoka nodded, "Thanks for the heads up Ajay. Sheppard Tanks, Titians, focus fire on incoming enemy walkers. Target the heads, that's where the pilots are located."

The Titians and Sheppards moved up, opening fire. The first of the dozen Ironbacks coming in spearhead formation collapsed under the focused fire. The airborne Orcas came in, and barraged the Ironbacks, causing general damage. Zone Troopers jump jetted over to the position, firing their 75 millimeter rail guns and taking one down with focused fire. The rest of the Ironbacks were near destruction when they reached, and began punching a Titian, knocking its cannon off, resulting in almost all the Titians being unarmed save for the ability to walk on smaller tanks.

"Crap," one of the Titian jockeys shouted as his walker was nearly totaled, "Those things are _jacked_!"

"No kidding!" shouted another Titian pilot, "Commander, with all due respect, we need new tactics to take these out _beyond_ slug it out and hope to get them before they get us!"

Ahsoka bit a curse back, "Agreed. Pull back to our beachhead. Ajay, get some mobile repair transports on the beach, we need to do some emergency repairs… and offload our Rig too, we might be here for a while. Set it all up on the beach. Battleships, Carrier, holding pattern near the LZ."

"Copy that," Ajay answered, "MRT-bearing transports en route."

"Moving ships into position, Commander."

XXXXX

**July 30****th****, 2064**

**Poland-Russia Border**

**TCN Node #091**

**Yellow Zone**

Sergeant Michael Hawk, GDI Zone Trooper, was positively bored. It was a random TCN node, and it was far from the action, much of it being towards the interior of Poland where a Nod separatist stronghold had been encountered. Not that being at a boring post was a bad thing, but he was getting quite bored with constantly sitting around while others were out risking their lives.

"Sir," reported one of his Zone Defenders, a woman named Alice, "I got something on the horizon, better come and see it sir."

"Copy that Private, I'm on my way."

Checking his new Zone Armor, he headed out towards the look out post. When he got there… Alice was waiting, her rangefinder activated.

"Sorry to bother you sir, but… I really think you should get a look into the distance at what I'm seeing."

"No worries Private…" Michael activated his own rangefinder and looked…

And what he saw almost made him piss his pants once he realized what it was.

"Sound the alarm, Nod Separatists incoming with some new form of Venom aircraft!"

XXXXX

Riff Hoover was excited. He was flying a new addition to the true Nod arsenal, the _Cobra_ assault fighter/gunship. Using new VTOL technology gained from a captured GDI engineer, technology which allowed it to carry a heavier weapon than the original Venom, it was going to make GDI piss its pants as it lost, yet again, air superiority. _They lost it to the Scrin, and now they'll loose it to Nod!_

"Form up Cobras," he said into his radio, "We're going in."

His squad of five Cobras formed up and flew in, seeing a pair of Zone Troopers on the ground, rushing back to the node. Firing their Tiberium core enhanced cannons, the cores granting the blasts a plasma-like quality using a new system developed by Gideon's science ministers, the shells exploded, sending the Troopers flying away, their armor barely holding. Another volley was made, and finished them off.

XXXXX

"All men to battle stations, we have five unidentified craft incoming, confirmed ECG!" Hawk shouted, rushing to find cover. Alice was already opening fire with her dual rocket launchers. The other Zone Defender in his team came running out from her 'bed', a small corner, and was firing her dual rocket launchers too.

"Into the bunker, both of you!" Hawk shouted, "Everyone, get to cover and open fire!"

Glad that the recent upgrade to GDI technology allowed some weapons previous incapable of shooting at the sky capable of firing at aircraft, he took cover and aimed up, pulling the trigger and damaging one of the ECG aircraft.

XXXXXX

Riff scowled as his Cobra took a hit from the GDI Zone Defenders, "Don't they know to keep the ladies out of the battlefield? Firing rocket launchers is quite unladylike…" He fired at the bunker where the two Zone Defenders were taking cover, trying to hit the Zone Defenders themselves with headshots.

"Cobra going doowwwnnn!" shouted one of his wingmen as the other Cobra came flying down to earth in a heap of screaming metal as rockets found the sweet spot.

He managed to get a shot into the bunker, hitting one of the Zone Defenders in the head. He couldn't see the effects of his carnage, but he knew she wouldn't be coming back.

XXXXXX

"Alice!" Hawk shouted as her head was blown into her armor, smoke all that came out from her blasted open helmet… and something of a blackened red color was splattered on the inside of her helmet; "Those sons of bitches!"

Suddenly, the bunker's wall collapsed and he was caught in the volley… and he bled out.

XXXXX

"Rot in hell, GDI fascists." Rick said as his remaining squad, three Cobras now due to a lucky Zone Trooper finding his mark, finished off the last GDI Zone Trooper. "Alright then, let's scrap this damned TCN thingamajig and blow the camp to hell!"

His 'squadron' began flying around, targeting anything that looked valuable, and anything that wasn't too, leveling the whole camp. Rick was satisfied, this was only one of many strikes that were occurring, to turn the tide and stop the perversion of the Tiberium Prophecy that Kane, the original preacher, had betrayed. _Hope I get to be the one to kill him, I just gotta kill enough GDI and false Nod to get into Gideon's good graces!_

_XXXXX_

**August 1****st****, 2064**

**GDI Tokyo Command Center**

**Tokyo, Japan**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka walked into the high-powered communications suite, and walked into holographic range. Waiting for her was the assembled GDI Generals, all of them, and many prominent commanders from across the globe.

"Generals, Commanders," General Riggs, the _de jure_ leader of the GDI military and, with the GDI council having removed most of the Generals' seats to reduce military control, was the voice of the GDI military on the council, "You've all heard the reports. ECG has launched a full scale hit-and-run assault on TCN nodes across the globe using various new technologies, including what our spies report to be a _Cobra_ class gunship-fighter hybrid. General Mitchell, you said you had a counter?"

"That's correct, General." Mitchell rose, and in the center, a vehicle appeared. Shamed like a upside down V, but with what would be the base of a normal V being flat, where the cockpit and an underslung projectile launcher of some size, was located, and immediately behind that a short Orca Mark V based tail, where an engine was located. The wings had two turbofans near the central part, and the wingtips were dual Gatling cannons, one per wing. It reminded Ahsoka of the Clone Army's _V-19 Torrent fighter_, and suspected this new vehicle had similar purpose.

"This," Mitchell explained, "is the Hawker-class _Hurricane_ fighter/gunship hybrid; developed independently, ladies and gentlemen, not to worry. Armed with dual chain guns and a sensor pod launcher to keep tabs on the combat zone, the Hurricane was spun out of design sketches for the Third Tiberium War era Orca, but rather than rockets, it uses dual chain guns. It's a VTOL craft, and well suited for anti-infantry or anti-air combat. Tanks and other armored units, according to our tests, are going to give the Hurricane trouble, but most ECG forces are lighter in armor, so it shouldn't be a problem. Although the Orca is probably best suited for hunting down these roaming squadrons of Cobra prototypes, the Hurricane will be key if ECG uses stealth technology, due to the scanner pods launched from just under the cockpit. It's a one man craft, but it can carry a co-pilot or passenger if necessary, but an onboard mini-EVA makes such redundant."

Ahsoka nodded as the specs were shown. Rex then stood up, donned in his clone armor, but with GDI rank chevrons on his chest, an add-on, and with his helmet no-where to be seen. GDI generals had a bit more freedom with their choice of attire, and were authorized to wear nicer versions of their old combat kit if they chose to. "Orders are being sent as we speak, but we've confirmed most of the attacks are along the Eastern European border, our few Australian construction sites, the Antarctic Hub, and the Eastern American Seaboard. General Mitchell and Locke are going to be leading their forces into Eastern Europe, while Granger and myself defend the Eastern Seaboard. McNeil and RAID are assigned to Australia and our single Antarctic hub, and Generals Nagama and Riggs will be our support. General Riggs will be our overall coordinator, while Nagama will be on hand to reinforce any surprises that crop up."

Riggs nodded as the _de facto_ leader of the GDI Generals finished, "Check your EVA units for information regarding assignments. New forces, including our Hurricanes, are being distributed to your forces as we speak. Move out."

Ahsoka nodded to General Nagama, who was present in person for the briefing.

"Fight well, Commander." Nagama said, nodding.

Ahsoka's wrist EVA beeped, and Ajay appeared. "Alright Commander, we're transferring from the pacific to Europe. We rendezvous with General Mitchell at the recently reclaimed Warsaw and assist in knocking Gideon out of his fortified hole."

Ahsoka nodded, "So more urban combat… this time in a partially inhabited city with _civilians_… is the Ion Cannon back online?"

"No," Ajay answered, "The Ion Cannon network has, once more, been disabled. Even with the GST fleet in orbit, they still haven't been able to prevent hackers from getting into the system. They can't fire it on us, but we can't risk firing it ourselves… most are actually shut down right now."

"It would not avail us anyways," Nagama chimed in, "Much of the battle will take place dangerously near to TCN sites, so an Ion Cannon blast would risk a chain reaction similar to the Battle of Sarajevo."

Ahsoka grimly nodded, knowing that she had been mere inches from toxic oblivion, rescued by virtue of a GDI strike team being ordered to secure all Nod liquid Tiberium research in Temple Prime during the GDI assault, which marked the half-way point of the Third Tiberium War.

"Well, we got a few thousand kilometers to cover, let's get the transports going."

XXXXX

**August 2****nd****, 2064**

**Warsaw War Zone**

**Yellow Zone**

"Ahsoka, land your forces at the designated zone and get moving," Mitchell ordered, "We need to break this siege before it drags on. We've managed to force Gideon to focus on us to the southwest and west, but you and your elite soldiers should be able to punch a hole through the north east and go after Gideon himself. Careful, the place is loaded to the brink with soldiers."

"Copy that General; we're landing now. Pilot, you heard him, land these birds and get the Titians marching."

They landed and the soldiers got out immediately. ECG transports were already evacuating, hunted down by Firehawks while Orcas and Hurricanes engaged the new Cobra assault fighter/gunship hybrids, the Hurricanes marking the targets and granting the Orcas much better accuracy by homing in on the pods, and started knocking the Cobras out of the sky, reasserting GDI air supremacy. But that was not without losses, for every two Cobras that went down, at least one GDI aircraft followed them into flames, but the advantage was being pressed home by superior GDI Orcas, which were now clearing ECG out of the skies, crippling their bid for air power, and casualties were decreasing for GDI's air corps.

Ahsoka checked the charge on her rail carbine, knowing she'd probably need it in the city, and slung it across her back. Sarah was carrying the GD-10, with a grenade launcher add-on, the same that Vega had gifted her during the Vladivostok raid. Her armor also had been retrofitted with a jump jet pack, to keep the maneuverability she was used to.

Ajay appeared on Ahsoka's wrist EVA, "OK Commander, here's your orders, from Riggs; you need to get into Gideon's compound in the town hall and capture him before he scoots. If I might make a suggestion, have Fullerton lead the main fight and go in after him yourself, before he can escape."

"Copy that," Ahsoka said, "Sarah, with me. Fullerton, come in."

"Fullerton here."

"Take command of the Taskforce, I'm going in after Gideon."

"Got it, I'll _decimate_ a bunch of the noddies for ya, see if I can't cover your approach with a lot of explosions."

Ahsoka grinned as she cut Fullerton, the 'Firestorm Trooper', who was using the Firestorm Decimator weapon used first at Manchester, and was still the only one capable of using it due to ridiculous training above and beyond standard commando, training which Ahsoka didn't have time to receive, as it called for pulling a soldier off the lines for a good few months, and unfortunately, they couldn't afford to pull many off the lines, and certainly not the leader of a GDI division. _You're a Jedi,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _you shouldn't need fancy battle suits and weapons._ Nodding to Sarah, the two rushed forward with the rest of the Taskforce, punching a hole in the impressively _**weak**_rear defenses, and then splitting off from the Taskforce, jump jetting and Force leaping over fences and finding themselves on the main road, which most of the Taskforce wouldn't be using, instead punching through the whole city with _shock and awe_. Street to street fighting erupted as surprisingly well armed ECG soldiers came out to meet the GDI forces, a mix of cyborg and properly equipped human soldier, with the occasional tank mixed in.

Landing in a small square, Ahsoka gestured up the ramp, and Sarah nodded, readying a grenade… and launched it over, and after detonation, ECG soldiers were blown out of their hidden position. Ahsoka lit her lightsaber and leapt up, cutting down a pair of Awakened cyborgs, and Sarah followed, landing behind Ahsoka and shooting a group of five properly armed ECG infantrymen with the GD-10, leaving blaster burns in their chests.

"Nice shot," Ahsoka commented. Ajay suddenly appeared on the wrist EVA,

"Commander, Captain, got some bad news: Gideon has set up several towers, the towers are armed with what seem to be long-range artillery combined with anti-aircraft missiles and they're countering our air superiority. Take them out."

Ahsoka checked, and realized she didn't have C4 with her, _That's right,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _recent advances in armor composites have rendered most C4 useless, so they stopped giving it out to avoid us blowing ourselves up… but I doubt ECG has such composites._

"Ajay, we'll need some explosives, we aren't equipped to take it out." Sarah said, completing Ahsoka's train of thought.

"Hang on, moving SkySentry… getting images… alright, there's an ammo dump a block down the road, you should be able to find what you need in there."

"Got it Ajay," Ahsoka said, "Update the EVA map."

A red blip appeared on the screen as Ajay disappeared and the map of the area replaced it. However, a group of ECG cyborgs suddenly appeared and opened fire, but Ahsoka whirled around, parrying the particle beams and sending them back at their owners, taking them down.

"Nice deflection," Sarah commented, "Always nice to be able to shoot something back, eh?"

"You have no idea," Ahsoka responded, "Come on, we got an ammo stash to raid some towers to blow up."

Heading down the blown apart and Tiberium covered street, Ahsoka cut down another pair of Awakened cyborgs, leaving their metallic husks to rot in the streets. After all, in a war zone, it's difficult to pull the bodies of two ton-weighing cyborgs out of the way. They noticed the location Ajay told them about, sure enough, in the back yard of an old apartment building (converted into what seemed to be a office) were many ammunition crates.

"Go on," Sarah said, grinning under her helmet (whose transparent-steel faceplate could be adjusted in a strictly atheistic manner to allow the face to be seen if wished) as they approached one, "Bust it open, I'm sure it's full of candy."

Ahsoka gave a mock scowl, then cut it open, revealing long strings of dynamite.

"You humans have weird candy." Ahsoka commented, "Want a bite?"

Sarah shook her head, "How about we see if Gideon likes it?"

Ahsoka grinned and started bundling it into several bundles, each enough to blow a tower apart easily. "Let's go."

They continued, and overhead, an Orca came flying down in flame as SAM rockets hit it, and landed in front of Ahsoka and Sarah.

"Damn it," Sarah muttered as the cockpit exploded, killing the pilot before they could help him (or her). Ahsoka's face hardened as she saw the tower which had shot the Orca down.

"Let's go, we got a score to settle." Ahsoka said, leaping over the wreckage and, as she landed, she lit her lightsaber and rushed forward, cutting down several ECG soldiers who had laughed at the Orca. Sarah followed over, jump jetting, helping clean the other guards out. The guards down, Ahsoka two bundles of dynamite on the supports, and pulled back, the dynamite lit.

Several seconds later, the tower exploded, sending a number of Gideon's fanatical followers/soldiers to death, for if the explosion didn't, the multi-story fall did.

"Poor bastards." Sarah commented and she looked at one of the enemy soldiers, who landed horribly, his spine bent backwards.

Ahsoka nodded, "Isn't any easier when you can feel them winking out of existence."

They continued on, taking out ECG patrols effortlessly, for Ahsoka could sense their presence, give warning, and even take them out before they could respond.

"Alright, should be… ah nuts," Sarah said as they were about to pass the corner, "Gideon hijacked a Mammoth, dual rail guns and the rocket pods are replaced with chain guns."

"Fun," Ahsoka commented, "Well, it's probably guarding the tower, and since its right next to Gideon's hole, I'm not surprised. Alright, you jump jet onto the roof, I need a distraction. Once I get close, I'll cut the chain guns and cannons off, then get inside and kill the drivers, just cover me."

Sarah nodded, "Sounds like a plan." With that, she activated her jump jets, launching high and landing on the roof with a dull thud. The Mammoth crew did not notice them. Ahsoka waited for the distraction to begin.

XXXXX

Sarah checked the aim of her GD-10's grenade launcher, and fired. The grenade hit the hijacked Mammoth Tank and exploded, leaving a nice dent in it, and got the attention of the crew. Switching to armor-piercing Rail Carbine rounds, she shot off a clip, then moved position, sending extra shots down to keep it's attention. But it was starting to turn towards Ahsoka… _Time to use the new toy._

Sarah primed a rocket, feeling it ready, and aimed her left wrist, and from below her wrist EVA unit, a miniature rocket launched out, hitting the Mammoth and damaging one of its chain guns. The Mammoth turned its attention back to Sarah.

She saw Ahsoka's lightsaber spring to life as she leapt onto the tank, cutting the chain guns off and severing the cannons, disabling the Mammoth's ability to retaliate. She was amazed at how effectively and mercilessly Ahsoka could take out tank crews, it was… almost predator like.

Several slashes of green light later, Ahsoka came out and gave Sarah a thumbs up before setting explosives on the tower and, once clear, set them off, causing the tower to collapse like a deck of cards, and ECG soldiers inside. Jump jetting down from the rooftop, she rushed towards the door where Gideon would be hiding, kicking it open.

"GDI!" shouted someone inside… Gideon.

"Gideon, you're under arrest, and we're authorized to use lethal force," Sarah said, holding the gun up, the targeting sights aimed directly at his head.

"Even if you kill me, all you'll do is damage your cause, you'll be seen as wanting to silence the truth!" Gideon responded confidently.

_Wow,_ Sarah thought, _He's insane, it's amazing he was even able to hold onto this many followers for so long… and that they'd all be willing to die for him._

But Ahsoka was watching him intently… "This isn't Gideon," Ahsoka finally said.

"What?!" Gideon (or not-Gideon) said, surprised, "You judge me?"

"I do," Ahsoka responded, letting her eyes shut, as if focusing, "You're voice is too high… but its close enough that _most_ people would miss it… and you don't give off the cold charisma that Gideon or Kane has… no, you're an _actor_, a professional_ imposter_."

Sarah almost turned her head to look at Ahsoka, to ask what the hell she was playing at, but instinct kept her. She knew the moment she turned her eyes from (not) Gideon, he might make a move to attack or escape.

Gideon sighed, "So the ruse has failed… very well. _KILL THEM, FOR THE TRUE BROTHERHOOD OF NOD_!"

Suddenly, Sarah felt hot stings… lasers, absorbed by the Zone Armor's composites. Ahsoka already had her lightsaber lit and was rushing, creating a hailstorm of defense, sending lasers back at their sources, taking ECG soldiers and cyborgs down. Not-Gideon pulled out his own weapon, a pistol, and opened fire.

_Time to move!_ Sarah decided as she jump jetted away from the hailstorm, many pocket marks in her armor, and fired several grenades, creating a general suppression. She rolled into cover, behind a long desk for what was once city hall, shooting at ECG soldiers, every bullet that found a mark bringing the enemy down.

An ECG soldier jumped into her cover from above, but Sarah shot him in the gut, causing him to fly away into two of his comrades, knocking them down.

Blood splattered across her helmet's faceplate, obscuring her vision, as an ECG soldier above her was killed by what seemed to be various sharp objects… Ahsoka came landing after, severing the ECG soldier in half, the two halves landing on Sarah, who pushed them off effortlessly.

The last of the ambush was taken down…

"_General Mitchell to Commander Tano or Captain Granger, come in."_

"I read you, General," Sarah responded.

"Loud and clear," Ahsoka responded.

"_ECG forces just evacced via subterranean transports. You get Gideon?"_

"An imposter," Ahsoka answered, glancing towards the middle where the impostor lay dead. As Sarah looked at him more closely, it became clear he wasn't Gideon, in fact, he used a holographic belt, now ruined, to mimic Gideon's appearance.

"_Well, I'm not surprised. Rendezvous at the town hall in 10, I'm almost there."_

"Copy that," Ahsoka responded.

XXXXX

**August 3****rd****, 2064**

**GDI Forward Command Center**

**Warsaw, Poland**

"Excellent work, you two." Rex said, appearing as a hologram. "Even though it was a fake, we were able to trace Gideon's real lair from his subterranean evacuation. It's deep in the Ural Mountains, a rebuilt version of the old Soviet Union top-secret technology lab. We think the real Gideon is held up there, but regardless, it's where these Cobra fighters came from, and where they're being manufactured."

Ahsoka nodded, "It'll be rubble by the time we're through with it."

Rex nodded, and looked at Sarah…

"We can talk when this Separatist offensive is over," Sarah said, and Rex nodded, understanding. _Hope we can mend this broken relationship… if not… well, we knew the risks, and knew them well._ The words were a bit thin to her, but she knew that they both knew the risks… but being reanimated as a cyborg was _not_ something they anticipated.

"Very well. Report back when that Separatist base has been eradicated."

As Rex disappeared, Mitchell walked in. "I heard, well, I got some bad news. You won't be able to launch a proper GDI assault. Rios has ordered us to split our forces to secure all TCN nodes, and since we've pushed the Separatists into retreat, all technology for setting up necessary forward bases has been removed from forward assault operations until the TCN is back on-schedule, which won't be for at least a month."

Sarah bit a curse back, "How much would we be able to get?"

"You two, Fullerton, and maybe a few infantrymen if you're lucky."

"So in other words," Ahsoka commented, "We're going commando… in a _military_ sense," she added for Mitchell's benefit, as he opened his eyes in shock.

"Basically. Look, if you can show Rios that the base is a genuine threat, I'll have some orbital drop pods on standby with reinforcements for you, but you won't get them until Rios clears you for them."

Ahsoka nodded, "Got it. We'll be ready to go by morning."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**End Chapter**

**Alright, that's it for now. I wanted ECG to get a brief come-back to kick a little rear, and keep showing the evolution of GDI/Nod throughout the battles. Yes, the Sheppard Tank starts out with RAID early on. The dizziness I think anyone can attribute to the dodge-bonus set of scanners/whatever it has.**

**Another note, in C&C 4, cannon weapons can't target aircraft, and it's the only damage that can't target an air unit, all others can… kinda cheapens it, so by the time I write the Cloned Tiberium version of C&C 4, expect 'advancements in cannon technology allow for air-targeting by our tanks, but not brilliantly'. So if it was Cannon VS Light/Medium/Medium Air/Heavy/Reinforced/Crawler, the strikes would be Neutral/Good/Poor/Neutral/Poor/Poor, the main difference being that Air would be poor rather then can't hit. Its fair I think, given most things are poor against reinforced and Crawler armor. At the very least air-based cannon units should be able to fire on other air units, don't you think?**

**Yeah, Sarah's a cyborg, just a reminder, and yes, she gets upgraded to a Tiberian Twilight era Zone Raider. To get an idea of where the cybernetics are, mostly the arms and legs (Think Darth Vader except instead of full robotic arms/legs, the cybernetics are mixed in with the flesh, almost bone-like), the chest (given the fact she got shot pretty badly there), and some interlaced, as mentioned, throughout the rest of the body excluding her head… trust me, I don't think it's pleasant, and I'm glad I don't have the heart to get into too much detail about it… it would be rated M for Mature, that's as far as I'll go on detailing **_**that**_**… so in a sense, the armor helps a **_**lot**_**, with looks at the very least. (Seriously, Tib Sun cyborgs looked pretty freaking scary, those who've seen the hi-def renders know what I'm talking about)**

**Doctor Pascal is a character with importance in C&C Tiberian Twilight, hence his intro here… given he, like most of the character's introduced besides Colonel James, are fairly blank slates, I take a spin as making him a second Einstein almost, except a bit more… rogue, you could say, given he goes past taboos (I mean, he's familiar with cybernetics, which, in C&C, is a pretty big no-no unless you're Nod).**

**If it isn't obvious yet, I intend Coric (Rex & Sarah's son) to take the player's role in C&C 4, but Lilly's (non-canonical and an OC) brother, Warren, is an addition so I can do **_**both**_** campaigns without having to try something really weird like a chronovortex from a use of Chronosphere or something weird having Coric be basically split in two, one Nod, one GDI, and eventually have on 'assert dominance' (which I was seriously considering) in the C&C 4 ending… personally, while it'd fit C&C wackiness, Tiberian Twilight is a bit too serious for that, so Warren will fill the role of the opposite campaign. Which will be GDI, which will be Nod, both seem to be leaned towards GDI at the moment… but who joins who, and what happens when on opposite ends of the field? And how does Warren wind up in the opposite?**

**Alright, spoiler warning ahead, for my Review of Tiberian Twilight follows.**

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_**Review of **_**Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight**_**:**__**You have been warned of Spoilers, and I now take no responsibility for spoilers ruining the game for you by any chance in the world.**_

All in all, a good game and a somewhat fitting end to Kane's saga… with some major letdowns.

Let's start with game play. Defense, Offense, and Support is your _mode of operation_, it's actually pretty cool and makes sense given the fact that the TCN is just too wide to cover with deploying bases every-which where, and that sometimes you need something specific, Defense to protect, Offense to retake/retaliate, and Support can do a bit of both and support such efforts. It also encourages teamwork, which I like a lot. Offense is my favorite, but I just _love_ ionizing Nod with the Ion Cannon on Defense, that, and I'm a Zone Infantry fan. Support is pretty micro intensive, and is well suited for those who in various MMORPG games as 'support characters', healers mostly, so I don't use it overmuch, but it gets some _nice_ powers towards the end of the level-ups. (Read: Firehawk Bombing Run of ****ing Ownage)

Another nice thing is that no longer are you bound by your base, you're free to move around and if you loose your initial position in a campaign mission, it isn't as detrimental anymore, which can _really_ save your bacon in a hard mission or when the mark of Kane hath smote your forces to itty, bitty, nano-pieces. Even if your Crawler Deploy Zone is held, you can just deploy right on top of the campers and they'll get blown to hell… so a gamer tip, _don't_ stand on enemy Deploy Zones when you _know_ an enemy Crawler is set for respawn, you could get a _nasty_ surprise, even your Crawler can be destroyed by a Crawler dropping onto it/burrowing from under it! Unfortunately, if the enemy waits just outside, especially with GDI SkyStrike Artillery batteries or Juggernauts, they can generally still hit you while you're trying to regroup, so the system isn't perfect, but then again, what is?

Let's move onto the story… here, I was not _too_ impressed by the actual plotline, though the TCN I liked, _a lot_. I liked how you actually interact with the environment a bit more, but I do hate how they basically make you a guy automatically, for me, it kind of took away some of the niceness of the Tiberian series (well, Tiberium Wars), because for all you know, you could be male or female, which is a nice touch. Red Alert tended to assume male, but then again, it was for the good ol' Eva-Tanya-Commander love triangle of Egotistical DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

Anyways, it gave you personal motivation, which was nice. You're basically a commander who was critically injured in the TCN conflict (or the second phase, the Incursion War), losing your eyesight, and it seemed like an early end to a promising career in GDI, but then Pascal comes around with optical implants and suddenly, you have your vision back, and not only that, but you become the perfect weapon to defend the TCN… or destroy it, theoretically. The first three missions (which do not award XP due to being tutorials) do a good job setting up the scene and the scenario, in fact, first mission, you escort Kane, and he notes your skill (which is kind of a 'meh' thing to say given they basically give you a cakewalk, though of course, it's a tutorial). However, they then surprise you with a TCN node going _boom_ with a pulse and basically totaling one of your divisions, which made me actually say "What the _**FUCK**_?!" when I saw that.

Anyways, you eventually get the choice, GDI or Nod. I personally prefer GDI, but that's because I'm a GDI supporter (Mammoth Tanks Cyborgs… until they got the hax EMP). Anyways, here is where it got nice, but also began to show some bad. With GDI, Colonel James (who's ordering a _commander_ around? I thought Commanders outranked colonels! That'll be fixed, do not worry) starts going around anti-Kane, while as Kane's new commander, you go about bringing for his grand plan… but before that, you got a little problem of a mass ECG riot/uprising/invasion at New Adana, where Lilly (the wife of the player character) is… and the moment you rescue her… she dies. If GDI, its while her transport lifts off and then gets hit by a suspiciously convenient missile (or, if you happen to of fired an Ion Cannon, that (I did that during a way-later rerun on Defense, oops!)) and she dies, just like that. As Nod, a Firehawk strike just fails to stop a group of surprisingly-resilient rioters hurling Molotov cocktails kills her (but later Kane reveals to of taken steps to rescue her… when the bus she was on was blown to atoms in the visual). But either way, for me, it's kind of like… _really?_ They might as well of had her killed before you got the optical implants and simply got a photo of a cute girl that you reminisce at while ignoring the mentally unstable Colonel James, especially given what Lilly's role was (which was basically smile, die, cry, and look cute for the camera, die).

Anyways, with GDI, you join the (mentally unstable) Colonel James in a eventual coup against the GDI leadership after they refuse to acknowledge what really is pretty considerable evidence of Kane betraying GDI (read: a GST is shot down by Kane's forces, deliberately, and they even proceed to hunt down the survivors). I enjoyed that, finally, a campaign with GDI v GDI that's not a captured base, but really… it should have been on bigger issues then what easily could have been a ECG false-flag move… or maybe actually _tell_ James that Kane is syncing it up to finish the TCN? I mean, really… Anyways, you get caught shortly after taking the GDI government building… which, if you pay attention, had several civilian transports _continently_ leave with military escort… and you then get busted out by a _dues ex machina_ (which, funnily enough, the cinematic is called _Ex Machina_), and bust out, and go to finish Kane off with surprisingly numerous help and a fully working GST… methinks the Taskforce caught some reasonable evidence of potential Scrin comeback via portal… either that, or Granger (senior) wanted some payback.

If you play Nod, you wind up _becoming __**Kane**_, as he pumps his DNA into you to make you seem, and basically, you _are_ Kane to the public… to protect you… then, after defeating Gideon and bringing him to bear… you get shot. In public, giving a speech at the Scrin Tower as Ascension comes near. So you say "Peace, Through, Po"- Suddenly… Snipe, you took a gutshot… and Kane comes onto your optical implant and asks, "Commander, are you hit?!" I so wanted to say to him… "No frickin' shit!" But, regardless of Kane's sudden lack of insight, you get into one _wild_ ride… you hijack one of James' crawlers, then have to blast your way through _everyone_, GDI and Nod, to get to safety with GDI and whatever Nod cyborgs you have left… evidently, GDI EVA units can't uplink with LEGION for IFF… but it's pretty fun to have the three-way brawl, so chaotic, so fun... except for one hump where there's a GDI arty piece pounding you and you just have a hard time getting past the Defense/Offense/Support combo group… though once you're though, you then you go in for an epic showdown for the TCN.

The last GDI mission was suitably epic, especially the end when you've reached the Scrin Tower and are now basically holding tight while Nod is launching everything they got, several Crawlers, troops by the legion, and even special-campaign-only missiles (which I highly suggest using Titians against, the lasers are surprisingly effective anti-missile, as the beam weapon tends to insta-kill the 10 HP things, which can really screw you up if they hit or get too close when blown up). Then, you enter the Scrin Tower… and what did you know, Lilly died to friendly fire, maybe even deliberately arranged, by Colonel James… Kane basically fills you in, and tells you that hey, you can deny him Ascension, but doing so would doom Earth to an endless cycle of war (As if we need Kane to stay on Earth for _that_.) James comes in, shoots Kane, then… she shoots _you_… _I_ **told** GDI she was mentally unstable… so yeah, she shoots you in the head (owie), before you can activate the (photoshopped) Scrin portal… and you regain consciousness, open it… and you're basically left to die by Kane, who just says 'thank you'… well, I don't blame him for wanting to drop me, given I nearly screwed everything up. The Nod ending is basically the same, epic mission that eventually pits you against the equivalent of a Star Destroyer, then after entering the tower, James headshots you, you open portal. But, in the Nod ending… Lilly lives… and either way, Kane ascends, Tiberium is beat, Rios regains control with James MIA/KIA, and well, it ends with Daniel Kucan (brother to the bald badass known to us mortals as Joe Kucan) saying, "Kane's gone? _Yeah right!_", which brought a smile to my face, a nod that Kane may get a much more fitting closure in the future.

Long story short, the plot could have been better done, but the basics made sense. I really think there should have been more to the GDI civil war than Riggs not listening to James, and Kane needed a actual confirmation, all we got was basically a heavy nod to the commonly accepted theory that he's the biblical Cain, when he says he found us in 'mud huts, in caves', thousands of years ago. And really, either way, everyone looses, although while it's never explicitly stated you die, it's implied pretty damn heavily, which sucks, really.

I compliment the actors, even though the dialogue sucked at times (except for Kane, mostly), they delivered it epically. Of note, Iona Morris (as the unstable Colonel James), Joe Kucan (as the Bald Badass Known Only To Us Mortals As Kane), etc. etc. However, the plot needed much better writing… I mean, yeah, Kane and Nod ascended, but to _where_? And what _is_ Kane anyways? If anything, the only thing we really know was he was on Earth for a few millenniums. The Scrin weren't even in the game, besides, of course, the Tower. The end missions were epic though, especially the GDI one, where it actually fades to black as the mission is ending to epic, dramatic music (for those with the soundtrack or who YouTube it, its part of track 12: The Prophets' Ascension, which is a big mix of epic movie-worthy music).

The music was one of the greatest parts of the game, no, it is not Frank Klepacki, but the music is a worthy successor. GDI was orchestral, bold, and brassy, which I think really fit them; big and heroic, but not angelic, which sums them up well. They aren't angels, but they're damn well the good guys (with bad leadership), while Nod has more traditional C&C music with electronic 'techno-rock' mixed with religious undertones (I think I heard Arabian singing in it at some point, or was it Bulgarian… can't tell), in fact, the Nod combat theme has this awesome lick I can't get out of my head. Serious kudos to the music designers for at the very least making the game _sound_ good, both ambient and in epic worthy of Homer, Shakespeare, JK Rowling, and George Lucas.

Regarding the units in-game, I was pleasantly surprised at times to find certain units to actually be _ladies_. The obvious ones were Zone Raiders and the new Zone Defenders, but I was surprised when the Refractor, a Mammoth Tank like vehicle with dual mirrors and a mini Ion Cannon loaded on, to be driven by women. Then there's the Nod Mantis, the Nod Reckoner, Nod Medusa, GDI Spanner… really, I think it's safe to say 1/3 of the units were female, which I appreciated, because it shows that everyone counts. It also makes it harder to say that 'the armies are all men except for [Zone Raiders/Nod Commandos/Rocket Angels/Tanya].

Mechanically, the units are pretty balanced. Engineers are nice as they're no longer your building-capture units and can (pathetically) defend themselves, though a few campaign missions have them capturing buildings. Their main role now is that they can repair your units (Which is handy). However… the _Spartan_ Tanks have no 300 one-liners, not even "AOOOOOOOH!" or "THIS _IS __**SPARTA**_!"… though there is an award called "THIS IS SPARTAN!" for using Spartan Turrets (destroyed Spartan tanks) to kill several enemies… one I have difficulty getting because I conserve units too well :( Scorpion Tanks are more badass now, and fittingly so, in fact, grab a female unit like the Zone Raider (who did a ballet move, then dropped dead to laser intensity at max due do EA not making 'grappled' emotes for infantry, instead heaving them use their idle ones) and suddenly, achievement called "Hey Girl" flashed on the screen. when I saw that, I almost spat out my water, it was just _so _random, it was funny… actually, I think the Scorpion should have been used in a mission where you have to capture enemy infantry, since if you grab a Infantry with the claw grasp special ability, you can move it… though the Scorpion will damage it constantly.

And finally, on closing comments, I say this: All around, it was a fine game, but as the ending of the Tiberian storyline, or at least Kane's… it needed a _lot_ of work, mostly in the story department, but otherwise, it was a pretty good game and has some replay ability which I appreciate.

**Final Score: 8/10**

_A good game, especially musically and the effort for some of the latter missions, but it needed serious work in the plot department, the 'revelations' about Kane _sucked_, but Joe Kucan still delivered it well, proving yet again that even bad writing cannot stop the Bald Badass of Nod._


	5. Chapter 5: Hunter and Hunted

_Find Cover, Find Food, Find Weapon, Kill Nod._

-GDI Commando & Special Forces proverb, in regards to being caught behind enemy lines, dating before the First Tiberium War

**Chapter 5: Hunter and Hunted**

**August 4****th****, 2064**

**Near Ural Mountains ECG Base**

**Ural Mountains, Russia**

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka checked the ration pack, triple checking the seals, and slung it over her back (as she was the only one who didn't have either an oversized flamethrower-like fuel tanks or a jump jet pack), and nodded to the others. It was a select team, herself, Sarah, and a few Taskforce special operations soldiers (though technically, almost all the Taskforce's soldiers were proficient with guerilla warfare). The mission was, quite simply, to cause havoc and let the dogs of war destroy each other. They had arrived via Harrier, with stealth-colored armor and a 'borrowed' Nod stealth generator. It would remain hidden, as would its crew (which was non-existent, as each of the Special Forces soldiers could fly such a craft, though Ahsoka was the nominal pilot if possible).

What were not so simple were the defenses. Few convoys, a full multi-layered defense, including but not limited to land mines capable of giving Mammoths difficulty, barbed wire with laser fencing, and plenty of Nod Shredder Turrets, whose shotgun-like weapons could easily pierce most infantry-based armor.

"Well," Ahsoka commented, "Looks like we got some work ahead of us. Shall we?"

A group of affirmatives, and they set out. They stayed along the road, the engineer/medic who accompanied them, Dirk, detected mines all over _except_ on the road, so once they got past the laser fencing, hopefully the mines would be gone.

They reached the fence, encountering no trouble, and easily got past the fence once Dirk hacked into the system and opened the gate, then shut it behind them… after that, there were no more mines, and a few kilometers between them and the base.

"I know I'm going to jinx it," Sarah commented as Ahsoka gestured for them to halt, and to use their rangefinders to look closer at the base, "but this is a bit too easy for comfort."

Ahsoka nodded as Sarah's rangefinder showed signs of closing the distance visually, "Agreed. Just hope it's because we're that good. Alright, what are we looking at?"

"As expected, a full battalion of these better-armed militants, and some cyborgs mixed in. Given they seem to be socializing, these are not the mindless ones… depending on your definition of mindless, of course." Sarah paused, waiting for a snicker, then continued, "And… there's a number of better-armed-and-armored Scorpion Tanks with a few of the new Flame Tanks."

Ahsoka nodded, "Anything we can blow up nicely?"

"I think I see several barrels of nitro and fuel for the Flamers, but I'm not sure if we can set if off long range. The Flamers are sitting in it though, and those are the big danger to us."

_We brought one of the new Vervack Rail-Class sniper rifles, bet Bull's-Eye could hit it,_ Ahsoka thought, "Alright, let's find a vantage point in range for the sniper rifle and set it off as an opener… the new Vervacks can penetrate basic vehicular armor, right? Shouldn't he hard to set off some fuel barrels."

Packing up, they crept forward along the Tiberian hellscape, and found a vantage point, not too far from the base.

"Bull's-eye," Ahsoka said, looking at the Zone Ranger they brought with them, "That hill is your vantage point; you'll have Trevor for back up, and Dirk will kip with you two. When I give the word, two clicks on the comm, hit the fuel stash in the base and light it, then provide long range sniper support, at your discretion."

Bull's-eye nodded, and with Trevor, a Zone Trooper, behind him, they climbed to the vantage point as the others advanced silently. Ahsoka and the rest of the elite infantry were at the cliff base, ready to jump jet/Force Jump into the base and light everything up, GDI style.

Ahsoka tapped her wrist EVA twice, creating two radio clicks. Several sniper shots range out, and suddenly a massive blue and orange fireball erupted from the ECG base. The GDI soldiers jump jetted over the cliff, landing in the base, opening fire. Ahsoka lit her lightsaber, cutting several ECG Awakened down to size, and they rushed for the base's Construction Yard. Ahsoka set several C4 charges on it, then set some on the other primary buildings in the base while Sarah and the other GDI soldiers were shooting through the guards, keeping the tanks busy with the superior agility of Zone Armor, and generally creating a distraction.

The last bomb set, Ahsoka rushed to the Scorpion Tanks, jumping onto them and killing the pilots with several fine lightsaber swipes. The other soldiers, some suffering from minor gunshot wounds absorbed by their armor, kept shooting.

"All done! Let's get out of here!" Ahsoka shouted as she rejoined the special forces soldiers, "Fall back, I'll cover you!"

Ahsoka began deflecting ECG lasers back at their sources as the GDI soldiers fell back, jump jetting off the cliff and heading for the rendezvous, they sped to the sniper position.

Sarah, the last one out, fired a grenade to cover Ahsoka, the latter then leaping off the cliff. Ahsoka slowed her descent with the Force, landing roughly, and detonated the C4 with a brief tap on her wrist EVA. ECG had yet to use the more advanced composite metals, it seemed, but several charges per target were used for good measure. Tremendous fireballs erupted from the base's primary buildings, spraying shrapnel and flames across it, the auxiliary structures now useless as flames spread to them.

"Good work, but we got enemy air patrols coming in, T-minus five minutes until they get here," Bull's-Eye reported.

"Copy that, Dirk, get us out of the mined zone." Ahsoka responded as they reached the vantage point. The GDI soldiers sprinted, following Dirk as he guided them down the road. They left the minefield area, and kept sprinting, knowing that life and death meant getting onto the Harrier and escaping.

"Cobras incoming, we gotta move!" Sarah shouted as they fired the Harrier's engines up. It took off, and one of the cross-trained infantrymen piloting (as Ahsoka hadn't gotten on in time to pilot it nor would they have time to switch pilots). The Cobras came into view as they lifted off, and the Cobras fired.

Ahsoka felt the cannon rounds hit the Gunship, but the Harriers were durable, it took more then a few 150 millimeter rounds shot at accelerated speeds to take it down.

But suddenly, she found herself free falling.

XXXXXXX

"Ahsoka!" Sarah shouted as Ahsoka was blown out of the Harrier by one of the canon rounds.

"God damn it, we can't land this bird with those Cobras on our tail!" the pilot shouted.

"I'll keep the Commander alive, the rest of you, get out of here." Sarah said, before jumping out the still-open cargo bay, just as it was closing. In free-fall, she saw the Cobras slow down and turn to hunt down the now-ground based targets, the Harrier escaping.

Activating her Jump Jets, her landing was slowed, and she grunted as she hit the ground. The Cobras were coming in fast.

_Gotta find Ahsoka before they find her,_ Sarah thought to herself, _or all I'll be able to do is confirm she's a POW or KIA…_

Sprinting again towards the area where Ahsoka was shot out of the gunship, Sarah had the Cobras hanging behind her, trying to target her. Sarah jumped left, right, jump jetting randomly to avoid getting hit as cannon shells exploded around her. She turned during one of her leaps, a lock confirmed on her EVA unit, and fired one of her wrist-mounted rockets. It sped upwards, hitting the lead Cobra and causing it to crash onto the Cobra to its right. The third Cobra remained and kept up the fire.

Ahsoka's signature on Sarah's helmet was getting closer and closer… suddenly, the last Cobra stopped firing… looking ahead, she saw Ahsoka standing there, hands outstretched, eyes shut and her face scrunched in concentration…

Suddenly, Sarah heard a crash, and, taking a glance behind, she saw the Cobra had, somehow, been forced down to Earth with considerable _force_.

"Nice one, Commander," Sarah commented as she reached Ahsoka, "You hurt?"

"A bit," Ahsoka said, gesturing a number of cuts along the armor, "Barely had time to slow my fall."

"Let me guess, Jedi tricks?"

"Bluntly put, but yes."

Sarah nodded, "The others got away fine and should be back in Hammerfest by morning. Well, we got a lot of walking to do. Shall we?"

Ahsoka nodded, "We crippled the ECG base, so they'll be on full alert. The question is, where to?"

"Northwest," Sarah said, "Far as we can. Eventually we'll get far enough north we can turn west fully and we'll reach GDI territory without having to go as far… kind of wish we crashed in a smaller part of the world though… Russia is the largest freaking country."

"Great way to spend your second anniversary of being in the Taskforce, huh?"

"Agreed. You still owe me the drink when we get back to GDI."

"Figured as much, I might owe you two for jumping out after me."

XXXXXX

**The Next Day**

**August 5****th****, 2064**

**Somewhere just west of the Ural Mountains**

**Red Zone**

Sarah was surprised to see green snow falling and sticking to the Tiberium, creating a glowing, green version of every child's winter dream…

"That's unusual," Sarah commented, "Normally Tiberium creates too much desertification for anything like snow to fall…"

Ahsoka knelt, grabbing some of the snow and rubbing it through her fingers, "No… not snow. Soft, almost microscopic Tiberium crystals… another evolution of Tiberium."

_Please don't be TCN resistant,_ Sarah hoped. This was one of the few times Sarah appreciated her cybernetics, they were easily enough to keep her on the move, if not as well as most traditional cyborgs, because she had less body to tire, and the cybernetics carried more of the weight.

Ahsoka on the other hand was taking it in stride as well, but she was definitely getting some fatigue; they'd have to rest soon.

Sarah glanced at her wrist EVA, no hostiles on the scanner, and the Tiberium fields were flat enough not to interfere. They were free to talk, if they wanted.

Sarah let Ahsoka know, tuning the face-obscuring colors out of her faceplate. They continued walking, the silence, now not quite as necessary, began to become uncomfortable.

"Tell me something," Sarah finally asked, "about your teacher, Skywalker was his name right?"

"That's right," Ahsoka asked, a tad surprised, as she never asked Ahsoka about it. "He's probably a Jedi Master at this point, if he hasn't been on an endless search for me thinking I might be alive all these years… though Master Kenobi might have been able to stop him."

"Kenobi?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Another Jedi Master, he actually trained Skyguy… Skyguy is the nickname I made for Anakin, and the two were like brothers after he finished training… I sometimes suspect Obi-Wan never stopped seeing Anakin as a student for some reason. Just a funny feeling, you know? So in a sense, he's my 'grand-master'."

Sarah caught the reference to grandparents easily. "So basically, you got some training from both?"

"Yeah. Actually, let you might get a little hit out of this little story that's memorable for me… wow, it's really been a long time, hasn't it, now that I think about it…"

XXXXXXXXX

**Thirty-One Years Ago**

**Earth Time: Circa 2032, Month/Day Unconfirmed**

**Republic **_**Venator**_**-class Cruiser **_**Resolute**_

**Hanger Bay**

Obi-Wan Kenobi ignited his blue training lightsaber, assuming the opening stance for his favored lightsaber form, Soresu, and looked at her. "You're move, Padawan."

Ahsoka gripped her green-bladed training lightsaber in her reverse-grip variation of Shien, another lightsaber form, and attacked. Obi-Wan parried the blow effortlessly, locking her blade down, but Ahsoka hadn't intended to take him down in the first stroke. Swinging upwards, sliding her blade off of Obi-Wan's, she cut upwards swiftly, but with equal speed, Obi-Wan parried the blow. Ahsoka tried another few combinations, using typically trained moves, and Obi-Wan blocked all of them. The entered a lightsaber lock, neither of them having the edge as the tried to overpower the other, and Obi-Wan had the upper hand.

"Come on Ahsoka," Anakin said, watching, "Don't make me look bad in front of my old master."

"Come now," Obi-Wan responded with a smile, "I'm what, twenty years older than her, and that much more experienced? It'd hardly be fair to expect her to beat me."

Although the ribbing wasn't directed at her, but she felt something surge inside, like embarrassment, and struck quickly, starting with one of the Ataru form attacks, then suddenly switching it to a basic Shii-Cho (yet another form) strike, which brought Obi-Wan to his senses, and he was definitely surprised by the strikes, their timing, and perhaps even the ferocity.

"Good, good! Switching forms is exactly how you'll defeat someone like Grievous or Dooku, if in fact you have to face them!" Obi-Wan said as Ahsoka began to twirl and leap, hitting him high and low, never striking the same place twice in four attacks, randomizing where she hit him, letting the Force flow through her to show her openings in Obi-Wan's guard. "Feel the Force flow through you, Padawan, but don't let it flow too far that you are distracted…"

Just as he said it, a Clone Trooper inconveniently hurt himself, dropping a crate on his foot, and Ahsoka felt the sharp pain, with gave Obi-Wan the first chance to counter-attack, forcing Ahsoka on the defensive with a series of swift blows.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan stumbled, and Ahsoka rushed forward, his blade meeting hers just as she was about to hit him.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted, exasperated as he began to step it up, putting Ahsoka on the defensive, hard, "Really?"

Anakin was grinning as he watched, "You have to admit Master, it was funny."

Rex had also walked up and was watching. Ahsoka decided to do one for Rex, and launched forward with a summersault, locking Obi-Wan's lightsaber high and taking his legs out from under him…

Or it would have, if Obi-Wan stuck around for it to happen, instead leaping backwards with a flip, and landing on an ammo crate.

"It's over Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said, pointing his lightsaber at her dramatically, "I have the high ground."

_He loves theatre, doesn't he?_ Ahsoka thought as she looked for a way to strike at him, Anakin chimed in, "Come on Obi-Wan, stop underestimating her abilities."

"Don't try it," Obi-Wan said, staring lasers at Anakin… and distracted him at just the right moment, as Ahsoka used the Force to create a powerful push, the wind blowing hard enough to cause Obi-Wan to stumble alone, if not affect him, but the crate he was standing on when tumbling away, and Ahsoka leapt up, bringing the blade down hard, overpowering Obi-Wan's block and brought the blade close enough it singed his forehead, on his back and pinned.

"Looks like a lethal hit," Rex commented, his helmet under his shoulder, "Headshot equals dead."

Ahsoka suddenly felt something hard and plastic-like hit her stomach and blow the wind out of her… Obi-Wan had kicked her there, and sent her flying into a couple ammo crates, which were knocked away into R2-D2 (who whistled in an annoyed tone).

"Low blow," Ahsoka commented as she stood back up, Obi-Wan bearing down on her.

"I wish such rules applied to Dooku," Obi-Wan responded sadly as he began to pound her defense, denying her the chance to go on the offensive.

_Alright, I need to do something cute to distract Obi-Wan before… wait a second…_

"Hey Rex, what're your blasters set to?" Ahsoka shouted over, asking him, the shout coming from her anxiety as Obi-Wan's offensive began to wear her down.

"Stun, why?"

Suddenly, Rex got his answer as a pistol came out of the holster and flew towards Obi-Wan, and the trigger was barely pressed, then the gun dropped, one bolt sent forward, hitting Obi-Wan in the back before he could whirl around to deflect the bolt, busy with Ahsoka's brief offensive to parry the blaster bolt.

XXXXXXXXX

"I bet Rex liked that," Sarah commented, a smile on her face.

"You wish," Ahsoka responded, before continuing the story.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Really_?" Obi-Wan asked, positively peeved at her tactic… or impressed, it was hard for her to tell, "Alright then." Suddenly, Ahsoka was, despite her attempt to stop him doing so, launched into the air, then stopped, and launched over into Anakin, who barely had time to get out of the way before Ahsoka crashed into the floor. Obi-Wan leapt over, knocked Ahsoka's lightsaber away, and gently tapped her chest, sending a sting throughout her body, as if she had discharged several watts of static electricity with her finger tip, a brief, painful sting, something you'd shake your hand about after, but otherwise, nothing.

"Well done," Obi-Wan said finally, turning his training lightsaber off. "You almost scored a lethal hit on me; very good."

Ahsoka gave a wry smile, "Of course, if we were trying to kill each other for real, you'd of probably impaled me in a few seconds?"

"Probably," Obi-Wan said with a sad smile, "Though if I did manage that, I have a striking suspicion that Rex would have me in a detention cell before I could even pull a mind-trick off…"

"Hey!" Rex indignantly commented, like a teenager insulted, then cleared his throat, an officer again, "I mean… most likely, General."

Anakin shook his head, smiling, "Nice work Snips, though Rex wouldn't get the chance to put him in a detention center if he took you out."

"Come now," Obi-Wan said, his seeming love of theatre coming up again as his voice changed to sarcasm, "I hear talking, but I don't hear action." With that, he ignited the training lightsaber and gave Ahsoka a light touch with it to the chest, which stung, but she caught on, winked, and mocked dropping dead, with a mock groan, letting her training lightsaber drop out of her hand, and it was promptly summoned by Anakin with the Force, and he began engaging Obi-Wan in a brutal, but obviously non-lethal, duel.

As she 'played dead' with her eyes open, she felt someone grab her… Rex was dragging her to a better view.

"Thanks Rex," she whispered, "I'd advise getting Cody and Coric, I think they're going to like this…"

XXXXXXXXXX

**Earth**

**Ural Mountains, Russia**

**Red Zone**

Sarah laughed at that part, "So, who won?"

Ahsoka grinned, "Obi-Wan, once he got the high ground. Slashed Skyguy 'cross the knees, didn't take them off of course, we were using training sabers, but he landed pretty badly once his legs got shot with enough static to cause a cyborg to jump to an Ion Cannon."

"Sounds like you had some good friends... and Kenobi likes the high ground." Sarah commented, "What happens if he doesn't get the high ground?"

"He usually thinks of something," Ahsoka answered, then she sensed something… incoming danger…

"Look out!" Ahsoka shouted, using the Force to shove Sarah down (and she grunted as she hit the dirt), and a sniper shot sped past where her head had been seconds before, and a second shot rang out, catching Ahsoka in the right shoulder, causing her to turn in that direction and almost spin a full 360 degrees. Sarah fired several shots, sending the sniper running and hitting him, but several black clad soldiers came out, Black Hand soldiers equipped with laser-based assault rifles, and they advanced on the two GDI heroines.

"How'd they evade the scanners?" Sarah asked herself as she opened fire from a kneeling position.

"Don't know," Ahsoka responded as her right arm began to stop responding. "But now I'm annoyed!" Switching her lightsaber to her left hand (as she was capable of using it left-handed), she rushed forward, parrying lasers back towards the enemy, knocking them down one by one, then cutting them down.

"Ahsoka, behind you!" Sarah shouted, firing low, but it was too late, as Ahsoka whirled around, one of the Black Hand, who hadn't _died_ properly, shot Ahsoka in the chest with what seemed to be a wrist-mounted laser weapon, but first, it fired what seemed to be a chemical spray, then a laser, which, when combined with whatever the formula was, sent Ahsoka flying backwards as if by a shotgun blast. He was then shot in the head for his trouble by Sarah. Ahsoka felt herself bleed out as the wound, which had gotten through small seals in the armor, took its toll. _It won't be difficult to heal though,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _it's a small wound in comparison to most you've taken._

Ahsoka tried to absorb Tiberium's energy to stabilize and heal the wound, to power a Jedi Healing Trance quickly and hard enough to close the wounds, but it was no good… it was like something had disrupted it… even agitating the wound further.

"Ahsoka!" Sarah shouted, rushing forward and kneeling next to her, "How bad is it?"

"Very," Ahsoka gasped, "Can't… heal… blocks… Force…"

Sarah nodded grimly, "We need shelter… I think I see a cave over there, come on…" with that, Sarah pulled Ahsoka up, supporting her as Ahsoka put an arm around Sarah's neck gently.

"Lightsaber…" Ahsoka whispered, strained, and Sarah picked it up, holding it in the same hand as she held her GD-10, and Sarah carried her into the cave. Blood came out from Ahsoka's wounds; it seemed like all they could do to keep her from spilling it out while they moved up the rough hill to the cave, which was aggravating the wounds and causing them to widen, which could easily result in death. They reached it and entered.

Laid gently down on the side of the wall, Ahsoka looked at her wounds… several small holes were in the armor where it had been weakened by last night's antics, and she was starting to bleed out as the painfully widened wounds, which were beginning to make her look like someone was tearing at her chest with a knife, left her exhausted as her heart pounded, trying to keep up.

"I'll have to take the armor off," Sarah said, "If I'm going to bundle it up… could you disengage the seals?"

Ahsoka nodded, tapping a button on her wrist EVA, and she felt pressure leave her as her armor loosened, and Sarah removed it. _That's right, Sarah took up some medical training while she was stuck in the Marked of Kane… just basic stuff, but I'm glad I have her with me… _

"Least you don't need it fully sealed," Sarah commented as she took other armor off, ripping the under suit off from Ahsoka's left leg, leaving nothing covering it, and creating a makeshift bandage out of it, wrapping it around Ahsoka's stomach where she was bleeding, then, with precision, using a combat knife in combination with pulling the under tunic up, cut the under tunic off from her chest and applied the makeshift bandages directly. Ahsoka could feel them tighten, keeping pressure on the wounds as Sarah continued, "Otherwise there'd of been nothing that could of done without Tiberium exposure …"

"I'll take whatever good news I can then," Ahsoka answered, "ECG has something special, that was no ordinary hit or ambush."

"No, it wasn't." Sarah said, "And I doubt Gideon had the foresight to plan all that. He doesn't have Kane's long-term planning abilities, he's short term glory. One of his officers, maybe, but not the head messiah-complex himself."

"Well, we've found cover, and we have guns… what about food? The stuff I have won't be edible without it being contaminated."

"They say Visceroids are edible, though I'll be fine myself."

"I'd rather avoid a Visceroid, I mean, weren't those things people at one point?"

"Some, and definitely the originals, though I think a lot of animals were mutated too… by the time they evolved, a lot of the older, blobby Visceroids were anything really… I think the reproduce now too, so chances are if we eat it, it's actual Visceroid, rather than mutated Visceroid."

Ahsoka nodded, "Well, let's avoid roasting a Visceroid unless we have too… how long you think we can stay?"

"Well, I pinged our location to GDI command, so we might be able to wait a while. You should have enough food to last a while, and well, you're immune to Tiberium radiation so you can probably eat the food once it's exposed… wouldn't put the food back in the bag once it's opened though."

"Right, though I doubt it'll be that easy… this cave isn't very defendable."

"No, it isn't, but you aren't in any condition to move, not until those wounds are fully stabilized, all I did will only keep you from bleeding out, not stabilize. You'll have to use that healing trance thingy of yours to keep it somewhat stable."

Ahsoka nodded, slipping the armor plating back over her legs, her left leg cold as the cold metal armor touched it, and she looked around… _Tiberium crystal formations, heck, this cave is loaded with Tiberium… this is too toxic an environment for Sarah; she can't stay here any longer then necessary…_

"Sarah, how long will your armor last?"

"Indefinitely, as long as it isn't breached, so don't you worry about me, just keep focusing on that meditation or whatever it is you do."

"If the suit starts to fail," Ahsoka said, deadpan and serious, "get moving and come back for me once you've rendezvoused with GDI command."

Sarah sighed, "Look, a few crystals aren't going to kill me, and the cybernetics can take it. In fact, my cybernetics were _designed_ for Tiberium radiated areas, so don't worry about me. If anything, worry about yourself, you're the one who's barely stable right now."

Ahsoka couldn't argue with that, unless Sarah's armor took any threatening damage.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Five Hours Later**

Hours had passed, and Sarah had managed to shoot a Visceroid, "Like hunting rabbits back in DC, back in the 2030's" she had described hunting the smaller Visceroid. Fortunately, Visceroids had evolved over the last few years so they _didn't_ decay in a Tiberium environment… which Sarah took as a blessing, because otherwise they'd have no food, and Ahsoka was going to need it if rescue was slow in coming.

"So, Sarah." Ahsoka asked, "Tell me something, maybe a story about your father, I've heard a lot about him, but I never heard it from you."

Sarah stopped trying to ignite a camp fire, looking up, "Alright. How about one of the battles from the First Firestorm Crisis? Recovering the Tacitus from the _Kodiak_?"

A grunt from Ahsoka, then, "Alright."

Sarah nodded, and began to tell the story.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**33 Years Back**

**2031**

**Several Miles South of Cairo, Egypt**

**Zones Yet to Be Designated**

**Equivalent Zone: Yellow, Near Red**

Commander Jack Granger, GDI, formerly working on Project Lazarus, now leading the Firestorm Taskforce during a massive Ion Storm that was atmospheric globally, cutting off all access to GDI's orbital assets, loaded his rifle. He was a Commando, but the general retirement of them in the Second Tiberium War (which had ended mere weeks ago) had resulted in him becoming an officer… he wasn't disappointed in the change too much, as he still got to shot Nod.

His small strike team, all that could be assembled, arrived with him to the site. Three Titians, resembling a box on mechanized legs held with a sphere between the box (which 'ate' half of it) and legs, with a giant gun on the side, while the three Wolverines looked much the same, except two arms with chain guns at the end. He also had a pair of Amphibious Armored Personal Carriers, one of which had an engineering team, the other his small group of infantry, hardened veterans, ten of them riflemen, two of them Disk Throwers, and a medic.

"Alright," Jack began, "We need to find the Kodiak. All we know is that it's somewhere to the east, there's a small Forgotten town to the south, up the hill, let's move out, we need to get to the _Kodiak_ ASAP!"

Ion Lightning was arcing in full, blasting craters into the desert landscape as they advanced up the hill. A mutant sergeant came out to greet them.

"Commander Granger," nodded the sergeant, "We saw something _big_ crash to the east, but be careful, there's a Nod MCV in the area."

"Thanks for the warning." Jack responded, "Sorry we can't stick around to help, but we have to get to the _Kodiak_."

"No worries… I'd advise repairing the bridge over the lake, Nod has a lot of ambushes in the area, and I'd bet the bridge is your quickest route."

"Understood. Engineers, get working on it."

Several of the engineers got out of their APC, and began pulling out various tools, and began to ready the bridge's automatic repair sequence.

"Nod incoming! Nod Incoming!" shouted one of the mutant lookouts.

"Damn it," Jack said, "Sorry we brought them here."

"Not your blunder," the sergeant said, "They've been raiding us on-off. Alright, let's form up!"

Nod Infantry rushed up, firing their assault rifles, while the mutants responded in kind, using a wide variety of weaponry. Cocking his own assault rifle, Jack hit the dirt, crawled up, and opened fire from a prone position, hitting the Nod soldiers with crack accuracy. _Yep, still have it!_ He thought.

"Bridge is fixed sir!" reported one of the engineers.

"Go," the Forgotten Sergeant said, "We'll be fine."

"We'll get you some reinforcement," Jack promised, "Alright men, let's go."

Crossing the bridge, they found the ruins of an old Nod airfield… one that McNeil had destroyed mere weeks ago.

"Jeez, we do a number on things, don't we?" one of the Titian pilots cockily commented.

"Cut the personal chatter, let's move."

They advanced, finding few Nod soldiers, and any they found were promptly killed in a hailstorm of bullets… and they saw the _Kodiak_.

"Nod forces are securing the _Kodiak_!" shouted one of the infantrymen, "Let's go!"

They rushed forward, Wolverines taking point and attacking the Nod infantry. The Titians entered range and blasted the Nod Tick Tanks to scrap metal, proving yet again that the GDI tank-analogue was superior to the Nod tank. The last Nod soldier ran away, but was shot in the back. Jack shot him.

"Secure the _Kodiak_, go!"

Several soldiers rushed in, escorting the engineers. Out of it came them and one other, an American woman… McNeil's EVA operator, Brink, supported by two of the riflemen.

"Officer Brink," Jack said courteously, nodding. "You alright?"

"I am, thank you… the others didn't make it..." suddenly she collapsed, the medic rushing forward.

"Clear!" the medic shouted as he began applying various antibiotics and crating a makeshift crutch for her.

"Sir, Tacitus recovered."

"I'll deliver it personally," Jack said, taking it. "Let's get out of here!"

The Ion Storm ceased, or rather, the lightning did.

"**IFF and IV3 Reinitialized, EVA now Online. Battlefield Control: Online."**

"EVA, get me an evac route."

"**GDI Orca Transport is landing at the mutant village to take the Tacitus to Tratos. Get the Tacitus inside."**

As they boarded the APCs and sped back, the Nod MCV was spotted and it deployed… and out from it came enemy infantry.

"Titians, suppressive fire! Wolverines, hold the bridge, you're the rear guard. APCs, get across the bridge, we need to get the Tacitus back to GDI."

"Copy that sir, Titians shelling shells!"

The APC sped across the bridge, and the Titians followed, then the Wolverines. As the last Wolverine crossed the middle section, several rockets from the Forgotten sped out, and it hit the middle, cracking it… Nod forces pursued, and another volley came, this time backed by Titians, and as the Nod forces reached the middle, the bridge exploded in the middle, collapsing and sending them into the sheer drop of at least two stories. The other Wolverines had crossed and were clear. Jack boarded the GDI Orca Transport, as well as the rest of his team, and they took off.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Present Day**

**Ural Mountains**

"So, that's how your father knew about the Tacitus." Ahsoka said. "And how GDI got it."

"It is. Been a while since I thought of it. I really wonder at times how my dad came to be like he's becoming, older and cautious, when he was quite aggressive in his days."

"Age probably."

"Maybe… wait, you hear something?"

"I heard it," Ahsoka whispered, grabbing her lightsaber. Sarah aimed at the cave mouth…

And standing there were two figures, the first what seemed to be a strong, tall man with long black hair, the other a Tiberian Fiend.

"Greetings," the man said in a voice that struck Sarah as familiar, but she couldn't pin where she'd heard it, "May I?"

The man's hands were in the air, and the Fiend was snarling slightly, as if suspicious.

"You may, step inside so I can see you properly."

"Very well." He stepped in…

"Ghostalker?" Ahsoka asked, surprised.

_Ghost- Oh, right! Ghostalker, the Forgotten's best warrior… hell, he's like their military leader now… what's he doing out here?_ Sarah still aimed at the Fiend, suspicious.

"Indeed. I don't believe you have met my companion," he scratched the Fiend behind the ears in a friendly, almost intimate manner, like a hunter and his loyal dog. "This is _Carnus,_ the name derived from two Latin words, Canine obviously, and _caro_, meat."

Sarah nodded, lowering her weapon. "Wish we met in better circumstances, Ghostalker."

"Indeed. I was tracking what I heard was two GDI soldiers caught behind the lines. This got my attention, so Carnus and I began tracking. We found blood residue and the remains of cyborgs, and I recognized the lightsaber cuts."

Ahsoka nodded, "He helped us at Rome and Ground Zero, back at the end of Tib War Three."

"Indeed. However, there could be trouble. ECG has sent patrols to the local Forgotten villages, patrols strong enough to raid them, but not take. He's securing his borders. While you might be hidden here, I'd be willing to guide you to the nearest one. You should be able to contact GDI and get some medical aid."

Ahsoka and Sarah looked at each other, "If they don't mind us staying for a while." Ahsoka finally said, "Maybe we can help them."

"Alright," Sarah said, "We just need to figure out how to get Ahsoka over to the village without having her bleed out, she took the equivalent of a shotgun to the chest, point blank. Hell, we barely made it in here."

Ghostalker nodded, "We can make a stretcher; that should keep her stable while we head down."

Ten minutes later, Ghostalker had managed to create a stretcher using a sheet of Tiberium crystal, taken off the glacier using a plasma cutter that was part of his kit now (a recent addition salvaged from a destroyed TCN site that was later rebuilt), and cut rough handles out. They lifted Ahsoka onto it; put some extra bandages on her wound, and left, Carnus taking point, almost scout-like.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Two Hours Later**

**Dusk**

**Forgotten Village **_**Tiberius' End**_

**Red Zone **

Ahsoka was laid onto one of the beds in the village's healer's hut, and a Forgotten medic walked up, examining the wounds.

"This is no ordinary wound… the cauterization, for lack of a better term, is derived from sonic weaponry, packed into a laser activated spray-like weaponry… far as I can tell, it's GDI technology."

"What?" Ahsoka asked, nearly launching herself up, "GDI? How the hell would Gideon get access to that kind of stuff?"

"I can't tell, but… did you check the bodies of the ones who struck you?"

"No, I had gunshot wounds, and Ghostalker said the bodies were gone by the time he got there, armor and all."

The medic nodded, and pulled out some bandages. "These bandages aren't clean of Tiberium, but you're immune to it, and they'll serve much better… this may sting a bit."

As the applied the new bandages, he was right: It stung, but it was better then the alternative.

Sarah looked around the village, which actually could classify as a small military base with the defenses the Forgotten had erected for it. In the center was their town hall, a former Second Tiberium War era GDI Construction Yard with some of the construction capabilities stripped out and moved to a construction site nearby. There were a few Second Tiberium War era barracks; in fact, everything was made using what seemed to be Second Tiberium War era equipment, a pair of power plants with three turbines, the two barracks complexes, the small war factory in a motor pool with various salvaged jeeps and light tanks, the armory (likely using a modified design), and the component towers and wall that surrounded the town itself, which had various huts and small, one-room houses that sometimes had second floors (most likely bedrooms).

Ghostalker walked up to her from behind, "It is not much, but it is home."

Sarah nodded, "It's tough, sometimes, to see both Blue Zones and how life is in Red and Yellow zones… the difference is… staggering."

Ghostalker nodded, "Indeed, our philosophers often offer theories on why such happens. One is simply resources, GDI managed to secure some areas but couldn't in others, while some think its politics."

"Bit of both maybe," Sarah commented, "You know about Boyle and his penny-pinching, and I wouldn't be surprised if he or his lackeys snuck some of the resources out of GDI for their own benefit."

"Perhaps. But I think we judge politicians too harshly… at least, the good ones."

"They say Nod's politics are simply 'faith in Kane', 'efficiency', and 'if you fail you get shot'."

"That's actually pretty true, from the former Nod members who became members of the Forgotten."

"Guess Nod had a one-up over GDI… in GDI the idiots don't get shot for failing common sense, they can even get reelected."

"Better then simply having the strong take from the weak."

"Agreed, but I find it hard to say that humanity has gotten out of the proverbial cave yet when I look at some political decisions."

Several mutant scouts came into the town, and nodded to Ghostalker, "Ghostalker, there's an ECG patrol coming."

Ghostalker nodded, "Let us deal with them. Composition?"

"Flame Tank and a squad of infantry."

"I'll deal with the Flame Tank, the rest of you, ambush the infantry."

As they began to mobilize, Sarah chimed in, "I'll help."

"Not necessary," Ghostalker responded, "We'll be fine."

"Still, an extra gun would hurt, and if you need a distraction, I can oblige."

"It's appreciated, but I think a GDI Zone Raider being spotted would only make matters worse."

That irritated Sarah, but then she reminded herself, _Right, this area is supposed to be empty of GDI, 'just' mutant territory…_

"Well, at the very least take these," she pulled a few sonic grenades off her belt and handed them to Ghostalker, "Least I can do for the hospitality."

Ghostalker nodded, and lead his strike team out.

XXXXXXXXX

**August 7****th****, 2064**

**Steel Talons HQ**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Blue Zone**

General Joshua "Mitch" Mitchell looked over the next design of the Hunter tank, satisfied. "This'll do the job, Major… but it won't go into circulation for some time."

"Why's that?" Major Kamperov asked.

"Because the GDI council, or more accurately Rios, refuses to pay the necessary funds to develop the tank and field test it, ordering us to work on the Sheppard Tank instead."

"The Sheppard is a good tank, but it doesn't have the speed, it's basically a Predator mark II with a fancy toy added."

"Exactly. That's why Rios wants it; it's tired and true technology, rather than 'new and experimental', excluding its anti-lock sensors of course. The Hunter is too light for her tastes, she think that it'd simply be blown apart in battles with Nod's new equivalent, the _Avenger_, which is scheduled to be put into the field pretty soon, prototypes are already at the disposal of several Nod commanders."

"But it could easily outrun this so-called _Avenger_, heck, it could go toe-to-toe with one if the specs I saw were right, and the Hunter possesses superior balance, something GDI needs to defend the TCN worldwide."

"I know. Unfortunately, by the time Rios wakes up it may be too late. I'm diverting some of the Steel Talons discretionary resources to get the Hunter into operation and production, to be used as a test bed for the Tiberium Core generators that Idris released a few months ago and the new Ionized Rail Guns, which eventually may be used on the Sheppard once they've passed military testing and development."

"Thank you, General… I won't waste a credit."

"Well, let's get a tank crew together and start testing…" someone ran into the room as Mitchell and Kamperov rose.

"General Mitchell, we have word from Commander Tano."

"What is it, Corporal Siegfried?"

"She and Captain Granger are at a Forgotten village, the Commander was injured during an ambush and the two are cut off from GDI due to being knocked out of the Harrier during a hot evac. The SpecOps squad made it back intact, but the two were gone, the Captain having jump jetted out to assist the Commander."

Mitchell nodded, "Prep some transport then, bring a medical squad and get the two out of there alive, and discretely to avoid ECG retaliations."

"Understood, General."

"Oh," Mitchell said as Siegfried turned to leave, "Let's keep this one under the radar, hmmm? No need for Rios to be 'worried'."

Siegfried nodded, and left.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Forgotten Village **_**Tiberius' End**_

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka glanced down at the bandages again. The bleeding had stopped, so she wouldn't die if she got up and walked around, but the local medics had insisted she stay in bed until they were sure she'd be safe to move around without, potentially literally, spilling her guts all over the place.

Sarah walked in, GD-10 rifle slung over her back, attached to a side holder in her Jump Jet pack.

"How you doing Ahsoka?" Sarah asked.

"Fine," Ahsoka responded, "Sooner we can get out of here, the better. I'd rather not bring ECG to the village."

"Doubt it'd be you that'd bring ECG here," Sarah said, "ECG already sends patrols to the various mutant villages."

"Maybe."

"You said you've taken wounds like that before?"

"Yeah…" Ahsoka glanced around, and, confident they wouldn't be heard, but still cautious, she lowered her voice, "Wasn't pleasant… a battle over a strategic listening post that resulted in heavy casualties as our equivalent to a GDI EVA was jammed, and the enemy had some serious upgrades to their technology."

"Wow, you people really have tech, don't you?" Sarah commented, equally silent. GDI EVA units were hard to disrupt, it took specialized jamming and some luck to keep them from being connected.

"Space was practically as much a concern to us as an ocean is to humans on Earth."

"I'll bet. Well, we can save the stories 'till we're secure, eh?"

"Agreed." Ahsoka then raised her voice, "So, one of the local historians, an archeologist who said he knew your father, mentioned the Chronosphere was part of your family's legacy. I heard scraps of that, but this was a learned scholar."

"Yeah," Sarah answered, "What was it… my great grandfather, or was it two greats, can't recall, but he was the one who turned the tide in the Second World War, stopping the USSR in their tracks and eventually turning the tide. The Chronosphere was the key, it let us port in, port out… but at cost. Chrono vortices, storms almost like an Ion Storm in ability, exploded out of the Chronosphere. Even with Einstein constantly looking to stop it, he hadn't had much success, and the technology shelved, stored in Area 51."

Ahsoka frowned, "You know Kane had access to it… how do you think he got it?"

"Probably had a group of loyalists hit 51 between 1996 or so and 2033, that was about when you met Mitchell, right?"

"Yeah… so about thirty years of unaccounted time."

"And a gap of about forty between World War Two and Tib War One…"

"Actually… when _did_ Kane first get noticed by the modern world?"

"World War Two, one of Stalin's top advisors supposedly, he was seen with Stalin when he broadcasted his new nuclear weapons to the world… Stalin, flanked by what InOps believes to be Kane, and Stalin's 'Para-whore', as General Von Esling described his NKVD head."

"Nukes aren't something I'm very familiar with… kind of worries me, to tell the truth, given one of those can take out a space station."

"A larger, strategic one maybe, but the ones most of us face are smaller, maybe the size of a hand-held grenade, used to take out smaller areas, like a portion of a trench network, hell, Kane's managed to somehow downsize the radiation from most tactical nukes to the point where someone can walk through a supposedly irradiated area without glowing green."

Ahsoka nodded, still concerned. _Nuclear weaponry, Ion Cannons that not only shuts things down, but _destroys_ them, and technology that is tough to equal in the Republic at times… I'm starting to think that someone had a sense of humor when they arranged for Rex and I to get chrono-whatever'd to Earth…_

She then wondered, almost thirty years had past… _What happened to everyone I know… is Obi-Wan still alive, Skyguy? Plo Koon? Mace Windu, Yoda, Barris… a list of names so long I can't even think of the numbers… what happened to them, are the Clone Wars still going on, did the Republic win, is Grievous a pile of scrap, Dooku, is he finally brought to justice?_

"Ahsoka?" Sarah asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah… just thinking… it's been thirty plus years since I've seen so many of my friends…"

"I don't suppose you've… seen anything, did you?"

"Just nightmares." Ahsoka honestly answered, "One of them was of a very close friend of mine, stang, he was the one who found me and brought me to get trained, getting shot down by his own squadron… I attributed it to nightmares, it wasn't very long past Mitchell meeting us, and I thought it was just concern for being unable to help my friends while I was sitting around trying to be useful."

"What about your trainer, Anakin?"

"Not even a nightmare, as if he's shrouded in darkness, almost… though… about four years ago, extended mission into the Red Zones to try and find survivors, when I fell to sleep, I saw… something… I couldn't make it out… it was blurry, but… it was like, darkness turned to light at the last moment… and some balance shifted considerably towards the light… I couldn't make heads or tails of it, though… I saw someone… as if through something like Zone Armor, a young man… blond hair… light skin, and in black clothing, on the ground, as if he'd been electrocuted only a short time ago… then it faded. I didn't really understand it; it was like whatever I knew was gone… I thought for the faintest moment I felt Anakin's presence. Four years before, I felt a… light die out, like one of two parts of a whole gone. Thought it was something random there too, though it reminded me of Obi-Wan for some reason. Back all the way to 2035, I think… saw the vision of Plo Koon, the master who found me, in the fireball, and shortly after, like… a mass extermination, so faint, it was like something I feared coming up in my dreams. I happened on-off for the rest of the year, and I… well, I attributed it to worry."

Sarah nodded, "I assume you told Rex?"

"I did… he mentioned that there were a lot of contingencies, just-in-case scenarios, that he had in his 'training'… but he said he wouldn't go into details."

"Probably didn't want to scare you then… you ever read GDI contingencies?"

"I have, especially those implemented by Rios or Boyle…"

Sarah nodded, letting it hang as Ahsoka thought on it… _Order Sixty-Seven would be terrible to see implemented, round up the whole mutant population, regardless of their morality, intent, or history, and lock them up? I know Rios wants to have something ready incase of a major war, but… that's a bit insane, hell, it probably violates the founding principles and, if you care much about them, documents, of GDI…_

"Well, you need to get some rest; you can't save anything if you've got shotgun shells embedded in your chest."

"Hey, nothing's embedded, it was a_ laser_, remember?"

Sarah grinned, and nodded, "Well, I'll see you in the morning."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**1:00 AM**

**August 8****th****, 2064**

**Forgotten Village **_**Tiberius' End**_

**Ural Mountains, Russia**

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka swore she was having a nightmare.

It was difficult to make out, she felt as if she had been drugged… but she recognized the place… Ground Zero, in the Italian Red Zone, where the Scrin, during their invasion of Earth in the second half of the Third Tiberium War, had built their Relay Node, their power source, quite literally, their lifeline. But… it was not a mere nightmare of the battle's horror, no… it was… different. As if it was in the future… suddenly, she was in the moment, what came next was as real to her as if she had known what happened between now and what she was seeing… GDI fallen, their best defenses defeated, Nod gone, truly gone... it was down to Ahsoka and a small group of Firestorm Taskforce resistance cells… she had been captured.

A portal opened, a purple, glowing portal that Ahsoka almost instinctively knew was a Scrin portal. Out of it stepped a figure, tall and proud… it was a Scrin male, not a grunt, but a true Scrin 'master race' male… and he wore garments _much_ better then those worn by the two 'true' Scrin that Ahsoka had dueled at Ground Zero, the Scrin leaders of their Traveler and Reaper 'Cults', which were roughly equivalent to a prominent GDI military force such as the Steel Talons or ZOCOM, inversely.

"And so… it is revealed." Said the Scrin, igniting a purple-bladed lightsaber, "You stand before me as the Overlord comes to claim this world… your pathetic GDI has fallen, despite your best efforts… and you still stand. Why."

"You're all slavers, _murderers_, _**tyrants**_!" Ahsoka answered, the words hammering within her chest as she spoke…

"You're not even of this world; you're an incarnation of…"

"I'm _not_!" Ahsoka shouted, interrupting him, "I'm not even from this galaxy, and I could quite well have returned if I wanted too! You think that it's your divine destiny, you're birthrights, to rule the galaxy with an iron fist, to destroy civilizations just for a little more Tiberium, a little more living space… I will, I _am_, standing against you, and if I had a choice, not even _death_ would stop me from fighting you beyond the bitter end."

"You believe that you can win? Your pathetic 'First Fleet' has been vaporized… your so-called "Brotherhood of Nod" has abandoned you, gone… your Global Defense Initiative is destroyed, it's forces ruined… you think your new toy can help you too, your "TCN"… no, you have _failed_… but… we have learned… you are _not_ a incarnation of the Mother, oh no… you're a _destroyer_… you would, could, destroy our mighty civilization, destroy the divine destiny… and now, you shall die, your remains preserved and staked in front of the Overlord's citadel for all to see… and we will force these pathetic humans to watch you swing, watch you _die_, watch as their so-called hope gives out."

Ahsoka felt two burly soldiers grab her arms and forced her to her feet… human soldiers.

"Take her."

Suddenly, blue spherical portals opened, as if rifts of time itself and out of them came GDI soldiers…

But not just any GDI soldiers, but the _Firestorm Taskforce_, with what seemed to be survivors of the Steel Talons, ZOCOM, RAID, Mainline GDI forces… and Nod forces, from cyborgs with chain guns for hands to box-like tanks on an avenging path, to four-armed walkers with five cannons, four arm, one chest…

"What is this?!" the Scrin leader said, shocked… "Abel's brother had been… how?!"

"Humanity's best, and worst, trait: vengeance." Ahsoka answered as the battle began, and felt something impale her, a hot, plasma-like sword.

Suddenly, she was back in the small hut she truly was in, not the dream of Ground Zero… but any knowledge she had of what the future held was lost, and the vision was now like a recording to her…

She put a hand on her head, wondering what she saw… _What was _that_? Is that a vision of the future? Or is it just my fear manifesting itself?_

She waited, closing her eyes and letting thoughts come. Concerns came up… Rex and Sarah's broken marriage, the Scrin invasion that everyone knew was coming, the Tiberium Control Network and any strings Kane may have attached… but one thing stuck out most:

What was she to do with her life, once the TCN was done and the Scrin defeated?

_A question,_ Ahsoka decided, _that I'll answer when the time comes. For now, I have other concerns._

She drifted back to sleep… but shortly after she went to sleep, another vision came…

Something was around her neck… a rope, tied in a noose… her eyes were shut, but she could still hear… she heard a voice, which should have been familiar, but wasn't…

"And as you see, a great betrayer is hung… she was dead when we found her, dead by happy accident by the Scrin as they fell... The Scrin were broken not by her blade, as the traitors would have us believe, but by the bravery of the Blackguards, our ever-silent, ever-watchful guardians, spun out of the original GDI, Black Ops 9, and shall forever protect us, from the shadows and in public. The Blackguards won the battle, turning the tide from a slaughter of our best forces at the hands of Kane and his Scrin cohorts, in his bid to return to Earth and conquer us, to a victory that has resonated throughout the Scrin's supposed empire. We stand strong despite the Taskforce, branding themselves the true traitors they are, attempting to prevent us from removing the mutant threat before they became one. The _Mutant Gathering_ continues, another armed and raiding group of the Forgotten rounded up and put to the camps, to work off their crimes against humanity, _crimes_ that were left _unpaid for_ at the hands of the GDI 'traditionalist' generals… Mitchell, Granger, McNeil, Rex… the so-called "GDI Remnants", the cowards, have fled into hiding. Now, Earth is truly on the cusp of peace, after a century of on-off warfare, an almost constant state of war. The Scrin are no more, the Forgotten shall never rise up to challenge us. Nod shall never return, the TCN had turned Tiberium from a threat to a tool that we shall reap with no retaliation for it. The traditionalists, the traitors, they hide in fear of our brave Blackguards."

She heard several heavy footsteps…

"Ahsoka Tano… a great betrayer of GDI… she was _not_, despite what tales say, of this Earth. No… she was a _freak_ from the Chronosphere, which the terrorists now deploy freely, risking the very fabric of reality, risking bringing more like _her_ to the world… perhaps even _attempting_ to. But time is not so easy to manipulate… every time they try to bring more of _her_ _kind_ into the world, time strikes back and attacks them with a storm capable of matching and surpassing an Ion Storm. Let her body remain here, a sign that humanity shall _never_ be so deceived again. Our fate is our own now, now, and forever."

_No… what is going on… what is happening here… there's more to this then…_ Ahsoka's thoughts were wild as the vision 'faded', though given it was only voice, it only ended.

She sat up, trying to rack her brains on how that could happen… was this truth, or was the speech full of lies? _Is this a warning to be careful, to not fall to the Dark Side?... Or is this yet another nightmare… why are they all happening now?_

She glanced out the door, which was quite honestly poorly constructed (but understandably so, given the pre-MCV technology used in the construction of the village). She could make out, through the opening and the green Tiberium clouds, some of the stars in the night sky.

_I really wonder,_ she thought to herself, _if Skyguy ever felt a bit cornered by the 'Chosen One' stuff... I mean, he's easily the most powerful Jedi ever, but I dunno, he always felt… vulnerable. Like there was only a fragile shell of sanity before he broke completely… Perhaps that's the price of power; it tears at you so much that sanity is a very real thing to hold onto… which would explain the typically shorter lifespan of those with great power._

She glanced down at her bandages, still tight and secure. The bleeding had stopped and the wound wasn't growing, but it still wouldn't go away, the Forgotten's medicine wasn't enough, it would take time in a GDI medical bay to deal with most likely. _Or a Bacta Tank, but then again, there isn't even a drop of it on Earth, is there?_ On the other hand, she didn't have to keep applying a Jedi healing trance, thus allowing her to focus on other things if she wanted to without risking life. All things considered, she counted herself fortunate, whoever ordered the attack knew exactly what he or she was doing, and had studied the target. If it wasn't for the fact that Sarah knew some basic medical training, Ahsoka might of lived… and the sniper had went for Sarah first.

_Well, let's list off who would do so if they had the chance…_ Ahsoka began to think of every person who'd take a shot, on Earth, that is.

_Alright, obviously the Scrin, but the Taskforce killed the last Mastermind that survived a few months back, so unless they left behind some Cultists, unlikely, mind controlled Black Hand infantry is out of the question. Kane could have motivation, but instinct tells me otherwise, he needs GDI, and killing me off would be a pretty large dent in the Alliance. Gideon obviously would have motivation… there's Rios, thinking about it. She's the supposedly-discrete leader of that human-high political party… and it would coincide strikingly with the visions I've had, or are they nightmares?_

She moved onto means.

_All three have the means to the Black Hand infantry or at least the equipment… but the weapon… that was no ordinary blast laser… that was experimental, perhaps even custom tailored, technology. Kane easily has access to it, as does Rios, even Mitchell or Riggs don't know all GDI R&D is working on, and somehow, a weapon that specializes against those who can heal in Tiberium doesn't seem a very far stretch._

Opportunity would be impossible to prove, she knew, it was almost chance that she was shot down, chance slim enough even Kane wouldn't of foreseen it all… but Rios definitely seemed to be the most likely conspirator.

_Then I have to be wary about Rios, I don't have evidence to move against her, and it'd only make her point by confronting her about it… no, she won this round. The next round however, I intend to win, and catch her… assuming it is Rios behind this._

She laid her head back down onto the thin pillow. _Come on Ahsoka,_ she told herself, _you need to sleep._

_XXXXXXXXXXX_

**Crack of Dawn**

**August 8****th****, 2064**

**Forgotten Village **_**Tiberius' End**_

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka awoke yet again, but not to a vision or dream… but to the familiar sound of a Harrier Gunship. The door opened, and Sarah came inside.

"Mitchell sent a Gunship to pick us up, turns out the Forgotten have quick communications."

Ahsoka nodded, pushing the sheets off, then gently slid herself out of the bed, careful not to agitate her wounds.

A Steel Talon Zone Trooper came up behind Sarah, his Rail Gun slung across his back with his Jump Jet Pack. "Commander," the Trooper said with a respectful nod (or the closest you can get in power armor). "How's the wound?"

"Better," Ahsoka answered as Sarah helped her along, "Not bleeding out, but I'd prefer healing to being stable, but stable over bleeding out."

The Trooper nodded, "Understood, alright, let's get her onto the Gunship. Hawk, set course for Hammerfest."

"Sir yes sir!"

As they boarded the Harrier, Ghostalker walked up.

"Commander, Captain," he began, "An ECG patrol is incoming, we will engage them to cover your escape."

Ahsoka opened her mouth to protest, but Ghostalker cut her off, "No, don't argue. We'd be engaging it anyways, but you should be aware, just in case."

With that, the Harrier's doors shut and took off once Ahsoka was strapped into the medical 'bay', really a single bed in the back. A Steel Talon medic was there, and checking the wounds.

"Good grief," the medic said, "Don't those Forgotten know you can't use Tiberium infested bandages?"

"They don't exactly have much of a choice," Sarah responded from the cargo bay. Sudden turbulence rocked the Harrier, causing Sarah to stumble and grab a rail. "Too much turbulence, you can operate later."

XXXXX

**Twelve Hours Later**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**August 8****th****, 2064**

**Blue Zone**

"God damn it Ahsoka," Mitchell said, "You sure gave me a fright. You're saying _Rios_ was behind this?"

"No," Ahsoka answered from the hospital bed that the GDI medics had insisted she stay in until they were sure she'd be cleared for combat, they had yet to operate or complete scans. "I'm telling you that it's a theory based on what we know, we don't have anything that'd prove the theory."

Mitchell sighed, "Well, I'll be alert for anything. I'll have my aide to Riggs mention what hit you, and we can gauge Rios' reaction."

Ahsoka nodded, "Thanks General…" the door then opened, and several of the Talon's surgeons walked in, "Suddenly, I have a feeling I'm about to be prepared for a victory roast… and I'm the Visceroid…"

Mitchell chuckled in a friendly manner as he walked out, "Get better soon, would you? Sarah can't lead the Taskforce herself you know, Fullerton would make too many moves on her without knowing that there's someone who can throttle him warmly around the throat without lifting a finger."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, _Yeah right; Fullerton knows that Sarah's married…_

The first surgeon nodded, "Alright Commander, here's the story. We have no idea beyond what we have from the initial scans of what you were hit with, beyond the fact it seems to jam your normally impressive healing capabilities. We're going to take a few samples of the damage area to study, and put you on the standard regeneration serum."

Ahsoka nodded… the shots for GDI's two-year old 'regeneration' serum (which truly only worked at closing wounds faster, despite it's grandiose name) were pretty painful, as they had to be applied as close to the area where they wanted the body to regenerate as possible… the farther away it was, the more shots they had to apply… and the more painful it was as the wounds closed at a faster, unnatural rate, almost as if being slowly knit back together. And since quite often the arms were the only place to put shots, it was going to hurt a lot.

"Fortunately," the surgeon continued, "We can apply it directly to your leg, just a third of a foot down from the wounds."

"Oh," Ahsoka commented, blinking, "That's good news."

"Indeed. Now, it'll take some time, but the first day _should_ stabilize your body enough you don't need the bandages to keep your guts where they're supposed to be… tomorrow we'll do a full surgery and restore your body as much as possible, after that… we'll see, the surgery may or may not fail, you have to remember, we aren't used to your… unique physiology."

Ahsoka knew quite well what they meant; even though she had let the medics, shortly after she joined the Steel Talons back in 2033, get a full scan of her (which gave them all they'd need to operate on her if necessary), few of the Talon medics even bothered with it, and it was usually used as a crash course to see how well they could respond to suddenly new physiologies.

"I understand," Ahsoka answered, "Let's get this going."

The medic nodded, pulling out a lethal looking injector, and moved towards Ahsoka's left leg, just under her pelvis.

As the shot was injected, Ahsoka wondered briefly if what she felt now was what a lab rat felt when the scientists were experimenting on them.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Manchester, UK**

**The Same Day**

**August 8****th****, 2064**

**Apartment Complex # 123A**

Sarah looked around at the small apartment, which she rarely visited because so often she was out in the field… _Close to home as I'm ever going to know outside the army, isn't it?_

The simple apartment had a living room with a kitchen directly connected, and a small bedroom. The couch bore all the resemblances of doubling as a bed. _Coric sleeps there, right… and Rex takes the main room… evidently at Coric's suggestion… midnight snack lover, or just being nice to the old man?_ She laid her helmet on the living room table… simple in design, but it was comfortable. Just exactly what she knew Rex had in taste: It isn't grand or as exquisite as most would expect a GDI General's apartment or living space to be, but then again, Rex was never one for that stuff.

The door opened behind her, and Rex walked in, looking worried. He nodded briefly.

Silence prevailed the next few minutes… finally, Sarah broke it.

"Don't say 'Sorry' or any apologies," she said calmly, "Ahsoka's explanation of it was pretty clear, and… I guess I can't say I understand, but for what it's worth, I'm not going to hold it to you."

Rex nodded, the worry leaving his face steadily.

"Sarah… I just don't know what to say. It's been twelve years since we've properly talked together… it's like meeting you all over again, back during the Third when I was the Talon and you were the Raider, division rivalry an all that."

Sarah smiled lightly as the fond memories came back… or rather, fond in the form of the friendly competition rather than the actual battles, those were not so fond.

"It's not too late you know," she said, "If something like death can't separate us, what can?"

Rex gave just the faintest hints of a smile, "I can think of one thing, and she's in Hammerfest…"

"She's in the best hands she could be in… I wouldn't trust her with anyone else, Mitchell will look after her."

Rex nodded, "I'm still worried for her. She's like the one sister in a family of brothers… millions of brothers, and then I had to play father for the cameras and InOps… I can't help but look out for her."

"I know what you mean… you remember Park, right?"

"The Zone Raider? I remember her, vaguely. Been some time since I've been at the frontlines."

"The two of us were sort of like how you described Ahsoka, almost sisters in all but blood… we've been through a lot together, it's almost family. Sort of like how military squads are like families, like how the Steel Talons are almost one big family."

The door then opened, and Coric, tired but satisfied looking, walked in.

"Hey Dad… Mom?! When'd you get here?"

Sarah smiled, "Two hours ago. Mitchell told me to take the rest of the day off, well, I'm not about to argue with a general."

"So," Rex asked, "How long you going to be here?"

"I'm heading back to Hammerfest tomorrow morning, with Ahsoka injured, Mitchell is having me fill in for her within the Taskforce."

"I just got back from the Eastern Seaboard, ECG was on the run and your father told me to head back here to get him some reinforcements for our counter-attack… Something tells me he and Mitchell collaborated on this."

Coric almost chuckled as the implication was realized.

Rex gestured towards the bedroom, and Sarah nodded. _Private conversation, of course._ As she walked in, she bumped into the door frame… her power armor was a _slight_ to large to fit through if she just walked forward. Turning slightly, she slipped through.

"Going to take a while," Rex said as he shut the door behind them, "for me to get used to the power armor… you're taller than me now."

"Only by two inches." Sarah responded.

"From, without power armor, being one under me."

Sarah shrugged, "I'm just glad Doctor Pascal modified the new armor to a more human size... I do _not_ intend to look fat, power armor or not."

XXXXXXXXX

**August 9****th****, 2064**

**Nod Research Base**

**Codename: **_**Crusader's Rest Actual**_

**Cairo, Egypt**

**Yellow Zone**

"Kane," said a woman ahead of him, bowing her head. "It's an honor."

"And I am glad to see that my Legendary Insurgent still lives and serves. The report of the _Avenger_ being ready for deployment is correct, and I am here to see it in action, to gauge its place in the Brotherhood."

The woman nodded, "The Insurgent awaits you in the War Factory with Doctor Pascal."

Kane nodded, "Then let us go."

XXXXXXXXX

**Author's Notes:**

**I really wanted to do something with behind-enemy-lines cut off. Albeit briefly, yes, but I think I did a good job with it. It was also a good chance for some flashbacks and a little anecdote or two for fun, a break from the near constant action.**

**Why does the Taskforce's Harrier have a stealth generator? It was 'borrowed' from Nod, if you catch my drift ;)**

**If you're wondering, the laser weapon used on Ahsoka is basically a anti-mutant weapon. I figured there had to be **_**something**_** that can keep Ahsoka pinned… and it may have a darker purpose. For now, however, it is a **_**dues ex machina **_**for why Ahsoka wouldn't just use a Jedi healing trance to patch herself up like usual… oh a note, on her injuries, well, not to go into the gross details, but basically she took a shotgun to the chest and it needs some pressure, such as from the bandages… or a Jedi healing trance, to avoid it from being lethal over time. Hey, I'm not a doctor, sue me, I'm taking Bio in two years, by that point I'd of finished the Cloned Tiberium fics.**

**Regarding the two visions Ahsoka had… the only answer is to quote Yoda: **_**"Difficult to see. Always in motion, the future is."**_** For all I know, it could just be a nightmare manifesting itself randomly. Hey, dreams can be pretty freaking weird… besides, random glimpses are always interesting, weather they're true or not. Call it brainstorming on my part.**

**Speaking of those, yes, she catches random glimpses of Order 66. Hey, time still went on in the SW universe, it didn't implode when I 'created' a time paradox... that'll probably something to explain later on... as in, post Kane ascended.**

**Oh, and yes, Obi-Wan's line of "I have the high ground" is supposed to be reminiscent of the Mustapha duel in **_**Revenge of the Sith**_**. What can I say; it'd be a nice touch of irony, no?**

**I know, this fic is freaking long, well, my friends think so to. I quote one of my friends at school, **_"You're not writing Harry Potter!"_

**My response to such in hindsight (of four months): No, I'm not. I'm writing freaking **_Command and Conquer_**!**


	6. Chapter 6: Radio

_The mutants claim to be victims, but they strike at us regularly, then when we rightfully counter, they decry us as murderers. I say no more to this. Let us rise up. Let us arm. Let us remember the tragic murders of Sergeant Fox, and Privates James, Ralph, and von Sunter. Let us rise against the murderous mutants. We will fight them in the light of day, the black of night. In the fields of our farms to the alleyways of our cities, to space itself if we must. Let us rise up, show GDI that we will no longer allow these sickly _abominations_ to hit us without fear of retaliation. Let us join together, form our militias, ready weapons, so that when those _freaks_ come again, we will be ready. Their tainted blood will flow, but we will not let it curse our soil, no, we will bottle it and burn it, erase it entirely from existence._

- Recovered transcript of an Anti-Mutant speech given in a New York beer parlor during a small near-riot after a strike by the rumored "Crystalline Guardian" mutant clan, which resulted in several (locally) prominent GDI soldiers to lose their lives.

**Chapter 6: Radio**

**August 10****th****, 2064**

**TCN Node #223**

**Baltic Sea, Russian Coast**

**Yellow Zone**

Sarah checked the charge on her GD-10 rifle. Last night, an ECG team had assaulted and captured a TCN node. Although the area was a Yellow Zone, scans indicated that Gideon had somehow discovered the ability to reverse Tiberium cleanup, and accelerate its spread with the TCN nodes. She had been called on as the 'only rapid response unit available'.

Sarah, unfortunately, was not cleared a strong team to retake the Node… In fact, she only had a dozen Zone Troopers, six of the new machine-gun wielding Zone Enforcers, two Zone Defenders, and a Zone Ranger to retake the node. She also had an engineering team to realign the TCN node once the area was secure… but she knew that would not be enough in a straight up battle.

Gideon's captain in the area was in charge of forty Awakened cyborgs, ten Deathless cyborgs, and a pair of Enlightened cyborgs. If GDI was going to win that battle, they would have to play it smart. Although a Zone Trooper could easily one-shot an Awakened with a Rail Gun, the numbers would be a problem due to the slow firing rate.

"Captain," one of the engineers said, "I hope you know that our new power armor includes the new Gizmo repair guns, right?"

"Hmmm?" Sarah said, turning. "Oh, right. How does that work exactly?"

"Basically works like the Battle Base's repair drones in ray form. Unfortunately, the current model isn't that good; we have to keep close to make it work. And no, it can't patch up non-armor related wounds, it isn't healing yet."

Sarah nodded, "I assume you're medically trained, right?"

"Yeah, but we'd need a somewhat sterile area to make use of our med kits."

Sarah nodded, "Thanks for reminding me. Alright, let's find a vantage point."

They advanced up the coast, cautious for ECG patrols… Sarah didn't want to engage them before she had to.

Reaching their vantage point, a hill near the TCN node, Sarah activated her rangefinder. All the ECG soldiers were taking up guard positions and seemed to be digging in… no easy hit-and-run attack, or back door… it would be tough at the very least.

"Bull's-Eye, can you start sniping?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Target the Deathless first; they're the ones with the range to retaliate. Once they're down, focus on the ECG cyborgs heading for those bunkers, I want to minimize how many of them get into cover so we don't have to blast as many of them out."

"Right away Ma'am." With that, Bull's-Eye began to pick off targets one by one, hitting all ten of the Deathless before they could get into cover.

A woman appeared to the top-right-hand corner of Sarah's helmet… her communication link. The transmission was open frequency, and the woman was donned in an ECG uniform. Sarah knew that she wasn't visible due to new GDI technology, so it was only a recording to her.

"So, you think you can just snipe at us? Fool, the TCN shall not _control_ Tiberium, it will _grow_ it! Surrender now, and perhaps we won't hang you."

She shut the link off, shaking her head. _Alright, so I got their commander mad. Now what?_

"Ma'am," Bull's-eye said, "I've hit all I think I'll be able too, all the Deathless and a dozen Awakened… I'm low on ammo too, anyone have a spare power cell?"

One of the engineers pulled one out of his belt and tossed it to Bull's-Eye, who reloaded.

"Ma'am," one of the Zone Troopers said, "I'm detecting a group of Flame Tanks on my radar, they're incoming to reinforce the node."

"_Damn it!_" Sarah cursed. Four Flame Tanks would easily exterminate their entire team, and they'd only take out one, maybe two in a straight up fight… not a good trade off for the lives of almost two dozen brave men and women. "We need tanks if we're going to face those things."

"Abort mission?"

"Negative, we can't afford to lose this node… I'm going to call for some back up, for now, we maintain recon and harass any ECG convoys." She turned on the suit's higher-powered transmitter, "This is Captain Granger to GDI Battle Control, TCN Node #223 is in confirmed ECG hands and it's spreading Tiberium. Enemy forces have deployed Flame Tanks; our squad is incapable of taking them out and still be able to complete the mission. Requesting armor reinforcements or air support."

"**Request denied."** EVA responded, **"Commander Shou has ordered all armor and air support in the area to be pulled back to the Baltic Hub to protect it from potential ECG assault."**

_Shou… that's one of Rios' political appointees, this whole area is his jurisdiction and duty to protect!_ She knew quite well what he was thinking, the Hubs of the TCN were important as without the Hubs, the Nodes themselves would be fairly useless, as they wouldn't have coordination or a second check, but the Node here was _reversing_ the GDI reclamation, and they needed to find out how that worked ASAP, as it could compromise the whole TCN.

Suddenly, a second voice came on the channel… a voice she hoped she would never have to hear again. It was masculine, unlike the GDI EVA, and its voice was dark and even distorted slightly… LEGION, Kane's personal tactical AI, which had, after being fused, temporarily, with the Tacitus, had become powerful enough to have multiple nodes and coordinate all Brotherhood of Nod activity as well as serve Kane on personal missions.

"Stand by for armor reinforcements, Captain Granger. Avengers en route."

"Avengers?" Sarah asked herself as one of the Defenders looked at her. "OK ladies and gentlemen… looks like Nod is coming to the rescue when 'good' commander Shou didn't. Bull's-Eye, anything of note?"

"Yes ma'am, Flame Tanks are moving to our position, spearhead formation."

"Alright, we volley down several rounds once they begin to climb the hill and sprint out of here. Any questions?"

"Negative ma'am."

"Then let's volley… fire!"

They fired their weaponry, highly damaging the two front ECG Flame Tanks… the second volley destroyed them, but the other two Tanks were still coming, and they didn't have time for a third volley. "Fall back!" Sarah shouted, "Go, go, go!"

The Zone infantry sprinted away, already at the bottom of the hill when the Flame Tanks reached the top and began to descend after them.

Suddenly, the ground shook… and five drill-tipped transports appeared, opened, and five boxy, black tanks rolled out, and the drills reclined, returning the ground to its original condition, save for resembling frozen pudding now instead of (mostly) level soil.

"Turn around!" Sarah ordered, "Reinforcements are here."

"We're at your disposal, Captain." Said the Avenger tank squad's sergeant, "Courtesy of the Legendary Insurgent herself."

Sarah made a note of the identity of her 'benefactor', the same Nod commander who had nearly killed her at Sarajevo during the first GDI assault in the Third Tiberium War. "Target those Flame tanks, then we'll assault the ECG position. Objective is to get our engineering team into the Node to reverse ECG sabotage."

"Copy that. Hit 'em! Hit 'em!"

As the two Flame Tanks came down, the Avengers opened fire from their front mounted 140 millimeter cannons, accelerated with Nod's new plasma conduits, which, in combination with the Tiberium Core Generators, turned their 140 millimeter cannons into the equivalent of a 160 millimeter cannons. The Flame Tanks didn't stand a chance, the damage sustained from their two brothers exploding had weakened their hulls, and the Avenger's proved powerful, the remaining two Flame Tanks exploding spectacularly as the cannon rounds hit them.

"Flame Tanks down, Captain."

"Thank you, Sergeant." Sarah answered as her strike team reached the Avengers. "Alright, stand by at the base of the hill, opposite side of the Node. Troopers, Enforcers, stick with the tanks. Defenders, Bull's-Eye, with me. We're going to take a look and evaluate our strategy."

Reaching the top of the hill, she activated her rangefinder and took a look. The small ECG camp at the Node was somewhat fortified with sandbags and Tiberium glaciers, cut down like trees, had been dragged, forming a roughly circular wall around the Node and preventing tanks from passing… but it would not last long against the Zone Enforcer's under slung grenade launchers.

"Alright, here's the plan. Avengers, you will take point with the Enforcers right behind you. The Avengers and Bull's-Eye will lay down covering fire, and the Enforcers will destroy the Tiberium glacier that's blocking our entrance. Zone Defenders and Troopers will be on stand by, and when it's about to be opened, will sprint in and clear out the bunkers. When the Glacier is down, the Enforcers shall assist the other Zone units and the Avengers will engage anything ECG."

"Avenger copy."

"Roger that ma'am, Enforcers standing by."

"Troopers standing by ma'am."

"Let's go."

The Avengers and Zone Enforcers, after coming up and down the hill, began their attack, the Avengers drawing the fire from the Awakened while the Zone Enforcers, taking cover behind them, sent over several grenades, cracking the glacier.

"Second Wave, get ready." Sarah ordered, readying her jump jets as the glacier cracked more.

The Avengers then focused fire on the glacier, and it exploded down the middle.

"Second Wave, attack!" Sarah shouted and jump jetted over towards the Avengers, landing meters behind them. Collecting herself, she rushed forward, launching a sonic grenade towards an ECG bunker… the bunker held, and its occupants were mostly protected. _Damn it, ECG must of gotten access to those new armor composites,_ Sarah thought as she fired a second grenade, _the garrison-popper proof stuff._

The Zone Troopers were blasting the somewhat flimsy bunkers apart however, and quickly the ECG cyborgs were falling to the blitzkrieg. Sarah saw a Nod woman donned in Black Hand armor… _That's the enemy captain!_ Rushing forward, she shot the flamethrower's fuel line, cutting the flamethrower from its source and nearly igniting the whole thing. Sarah then shot the straps for the fuel tank, causing the tank to fall and scrape, but it did not break… fortunately. The ECG captain, now sporting two shoulder wounds, rushed Sarah, trying to fight her in melee… just what Sarah wanted. She dropped her GD-10, grabbed the ECG captain's wrist as she tried to punch her, and, using the strength offered to her by cybernetics _and_ Zone Armor, flipping the ECG woman over her and slammed her front first into the ground. Sarah then pinned both hands behind her back and applied shackles.

"You're going to be spending some time in a prison, missy." Sarah whispered to the ECG captain as the final Awakened cyborgs were taken down by a pair of Avenger tank shells.

Bull's-Eye walked up as a Trooper took the enemy captain away for holding, "We took some casualties ma'am, two Troopers wounded, an Enforcer wounded, and the two Defenders are wounded."

Sarah nodded, "No deaths?"

"None, but the wounds are potentially fatal and there's been Tiberium exposure, hence the potential fatality."

"Not that I don't want to believe it, but those are pretty light casualties for this."

"There's some armor damage, ma'am, most of us took some hits, but most of us got lucky and the armor took it."

Sarah looked around quickly, and saw the Node's medical bunker was still intact… "Get the wounded into that medical bunker and get the medically trained engineers over there ASAP. When they're available, have the engineers use those repair beam things on the armor, see if they can't patch it up."

"Yes ma'am."

"Captain Granger," said someone, LEGION, via audio, "The Avengers will be needed elsewhere. Please clear them for RTB."

"Avengers, you're clear for RTB, thanks for the help."

"No problem Captain," the Avenger tank sergeant responded, "We'll stick around for a few though, until our pick up arrives."

"Appreciated. Pass my… thanks on to the Insurgent for the help."

"Sure thing, guess you're even now, eh?"

"Not quite, but it's getting closer."

"Suppose that's all that can be asked."

Several Harrier gunships appeared overhead, and a GDI construction team was landed, and immediately began working on repairing the Node's defenses.

Commander Shou appeared in Sarah's helmet, on the top right hand side.

"Excellent work, Captain, but I question why you needed armor reinforcements."

"Flame Tanks, commander." Sarah answered, "You know just as well as I do that they're lethal to infantry, Zone Armor or not, and doubly so with those chemical cocktails they've added."

"That may be, but could you not focus fire? I observed you destroy two like that from Battlefield Control."

"If we had the time, I would have, but I didn't."

"Very well. I'll note your… timid tactics."

With that, he vanished, and Sarah snorted to herself. _Timid? In comparison to him, I did a bold move._

She shook her head. Rios' political appointees were more often charismatic and skilled speakers then military leaders… but a number of them had learned basic tactics quickly, enough that they weren't more hindrance to GDI then help, but a number of GDI military officers still rankled at having practical civilians leading their soldiers and bossing them around… especially the ones without experience.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**August 10****th****, 2064**

**Steel Talon Base**

**Medical Bay**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka looked down at where her wound was, is. The surgery was a success, and they had removed the anti-Tiberium 'corrosion' that had, interestingly, persisted for quite some time and, if what the surgeon suggested was true, was activated by Ahsoka's attempt to heal using a healing trance (though the medic believed it was just the Tiberium in her veins activating it, not a trance)… whatever it was, it was a perfect weapon for fighting mutants… or Jedi, as they'd need proper medical attention rather than time and a healing trance once the fight was over.

_Scary thing to think of, honestly,_ Ahsoka decided; _that someone is designing weapons to fight mutants, specifically mutants, and outfitting hit squads… and the docs confirmed it, GDI technology used in this. Either we've had security leaks, or someone within GDI is planning a mutant genocide… and if Rios is indeed heading that anti-mutant human-high organization, or the big one, then we're pushing the edge of civil war, given how many Forgotten are in GDI._

The door opened, and Mitchell walked in.

"General?" Ahsoka asked, looking up.

"Ahsoka," Mitchell answered, nodding. "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine at the moment, according to the docs; I'll be back in the field by Friday."

Mitchell nodded, "Well, here's an update from the front. Sarah just retook TCN Node #223, turns out ECG has learned how to reverse the TCN to not remove Tiberium, but _accelerate_ it. Sarah, hopefully, put a stop to that plan, but we can't be sure."

Ahsoka was positively shocked, blinking as it registered to her. "How'd they learn that?!"

"Unsure," Mitchell answered, "but all indicators point that it'd be related to the captured engineers that ECG managed to get last month… or defected engineers, it's unsure which."

Ahsoka nodded, "TCN is getting a lot harder to defend. So, how's the Hunter coming along? Should be done by now."

"Practically shelved," Mitchell answered, "Council won't buy it. I'm developing it under the preference of testing our Tiberium Core Generators and Ionized Rail Guns. Once it's ready, I'll hammer out some prototypes for field testing, Major Kamperov will obviously be testing them, it's his creation."

"Well, let's hope it gets into circulation soon, we need the balance of speed and combat ability."

"Agreed."

XXXXXXXXXX

**Tiberium Wastelands**

**Giraud-Mobius Tiberium Crater**

**Enlightened Cult of Gideon HQ**

"Interesting. _Very_ interesting." Gideon said as he watched the footage again. "It is known that the GDI commando is capable of self-healing in Tiberium, and not only self sufficiency, but _thriving in it_, hence why our holy Tiberium Infusion uses replicated DNA of hers to replicate the benefits… but a weapon that can prevent it? We _must_ destroy the unholy technology before it can be used against Tiberium, and discover how to counter it."

"Gideon," said one of his science ministers, "We were incapable of finding any samples of the technology, the Steel Talons have locked down all samples of the after-effects, and whoever designed it has vanished."

"It is not Kane… the symbol, although heretical, is not his. Widen image."

The image widened and focused, showing the symbol on the shoulder guards: A shield of black, with two red dots for eyes, and a pattern suggesting a mouth… almost like a skull. Behind this 'skull' were two black blades crossed and the black pattern of a shield.

"Someone," Gideon said, "Has created a personal army… secretly, and effectively. It mixes heretical GDI and holy Nod together… but who would be behind such is the question. We must be cautious in our drive against the TCN… speaking of which, what is the fate of Sister Serene?"

"Captured, by GDI officer Sarah Granger, during the strike to claim the damnable TCN node in the Baltic."

"Yes, Node 223… it is good that we can turn the TCN against our foes now. We must rest our forces; they are weary from the hit and fade crusade we have carried out, as well as the frontal battles with the oppressors. Let the brainwashed GDI cattle think they've defeated us, we put up one last fight, a show fight, and fall back into the Red Zones… look like we are in hiding, and let the Forgotten and mutant clans become the main focus… when GDI least expects it, we shall surprise them and take the TCN, and use it to spread Tiberium in a glorious wave that shall make it's efforts literally worthless and secure the TCN as an abomination in GDI's eyes, as it should be in all eyes."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**August 20****th****, 2064**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Steel Talons HQ**

**Blue Zone**

"Alright Commander, you're clear to leave." Said the medic after scanning Ahsoka's wound. "Looks like it's all healed up… though if you feel weakness or excessive pain there; contact us immediately and get yourself over here."

"Understood," Ahsoka said, nodding. She walked out of the room, glad that, after having to be kept over an extra few days due to the medics not being confident that the wound was healed properly, she could get back to the frontlines where she was needed. There was still a scar, but it was fortunately faint, and it shouldn't hinder her. _Not as young as I used to be, am I? Bouncing back gets harder and harder to do every time._

Heading into the command center, she found Mitchell looking over a global map… Blue marked positions were GDI, Red was Nod, and purple marked ECG positions. The various mutant clans were marked in green, and the TCN hubs were also marked in mini-representations of them.

"Good to know you're up and about," Mitchell said, concerned as he looked over the map. "Something isn't right… ECG is breaking on all fronts. Rios believes we've broken their will and that Gideon is suffering infighting, but I honestly doubt that. The fanaticism I see in ECG makes the fanatical members of Kane's militants look like disloyal, money-seeking politicians and opportunists."

Ahsoka nodded as she examined the map… and remembering that Kane didn't field Militants anymore, having phased them out and began retraining them in the Black Hand or outfitting them with cybernetics (sans the mind-control, interestingly enough). They first of the new cyborg divisions, cited as 'Devout' by Kane, would be ready in December… easily the last piece of new technology to be fielded that year. "How's Rios reacting to this turn of events?"

"She's ordered that we step up TCN construction and get it ahead of schedule if possible. Speaking of which, here's your next circulation of bases that you'll be deployed at."

Mitchell handed Ahsoka her wrist EVA (which was brought in for repairs and an upgrade), and Ahsoka found that someone left her orders… Rios herself. The orders were to take teams of the Taskforce to various locations, and generally garrison duty, of particular note being the Pacific Hub in Guam.

"Why do I get the feeling," Ahsoka commented as she read some of the more obscure locations, "That she's squeezing me away from the front?"

"I dunno," Mitchell honestly answered, "But it'll be a long few years, won't it? Oh, before you go, I have something that needs field testing…"

He gestured for her to follow, and she did. Leading her to the experimental weapons part of the base, several light and nimble hovercraft were parked, alongside the two Hunter Tank prototypes.

"They're called _Talons_," Mitchell explained, gesturing the hovercraft, "Light, fast, and generally fast response. Originally it was meant for the Peacekeepers, you know, to chase down criminals and the like, but I saw the value in a military grade hovercraft… so I strapped a pair of rocket launchers to it and well, we called it a Talon. I want you to take a dozen of these out for field testing, work the kinks out of the system. You up for it?"

"Sure," Ahsoka answered, "Might give me something to do while we're busy with garrison duty."

"Excellent. This'll serve you well in the Pacific, no pesky waterways in the way of hovercraft."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**One Month Later**

**September 21****st****, 2064**

**LEGION Data core**

**Deep underground**

**Ruins of Sarajevo**

**Red Zone**

LEGION watched the latest data for the Nod Avatar walker yet again, seeing yet again another case of now-more-needed-then-ever personnel being killed by the Avatar pilots, cyborgs in full now, trying to augment their walkers to suit the needs of battle. Kane had made it increasingly clear that they could no longer afford to waste troops and forces. _I cannot let this continue, it is truly a problem that must be rectified quickly._ He established an uplink to Kane, directly. Kane appeared in front of him.

"Yes, my child?" Kane asked as blueprints flashed behind him, blueprints LEGION was computing in the back of his 'mind' while he talked with Kane.

"I am beginning the designs for the new Avatar… the current model is too much trouble for its versatility, which often results in casualties we can't afford."

Kane nodded, "Do so, chose what resources you need, but do not take anything from those working on the Flame Tanks, I will not have their chance of redemption disrupted."

"I will not." With that, LEGION opened up a link to the Legendary Insurgent, the two being something close to friends, even though the Insurgent knew that LEGION had in fact attacked her forces at Sarajevo, due to the misguided Alexa Kovacs (whom Kane had instructed LEGION to follow) ordering a strike to discredit Killian Qatar, a now dead Nod general. LEGION had some difficulty understanding the concept of friendship, especially after the betrayals he had experienced, but then again, he was an artificial machine, and while great intelligence or knowledge can be given to such, base human emotions are harder to create… perhaps even impossible.

XXXXXXXXXX

**GDI Research Station**

**3 Miles North of Manchester, UK**

**Blue Zone**

Rex coughed as some of the smoke penetrated the fortified bunker.

"Sorry General," said one of the scientists, "But destroying a Mammoth Tank is not easy."

"No," cough, "worries." Cough.

As the smoke cleared, the damaged Mammoth Tank was clearly ruined beyond working capability. Its guns were hanging loose and the treads looked like they were about to come off. Rex honestly wondered how such could be fixed without extensive time in a War Factory... assuming it was salvageable at all.

"Initiating Backup Systems now." The scientist said, pressing a button. "This may take a while, General."

After several minutes, Rex was amazed to see the Mammoth Tank beginning to put itself back together, slowly, but surely. _That's a new one… I thought the engineers Gizmo repair guns and the repair drones were advanced… but this thing is putting itself back together, literally, without help!_

The process stopped however once it was, according to the scans, back in working condition. It would certainly withstand two, maybe three hits with anti-tank weaponry, but it was not fully repaired.

"We haven't figured out how to make it fully repair," the scientist explained, "and the system is a one-shot, it has to return to base to repair and even replace the Backup System module once used… but by 2069 the system should be able to repair something all the way."

Rex nodded, impressed. "Very well. I'll tell the council about these results. Good day."

He turned and left, leaving the GDI R&D Scientists to continue their work. They had sure found a gold piece… _and it's derived from the Tacitus. Interesting to the extreme._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

**September 22****nd****, 2064**

**TCN Construction Site #441**

**Moscow, Russia**

**Red Zone**

"Captain Granger," reported a scout in the field, "There's a group of ECG forces heading towards a nearby Forgotten village."

Sarah was already grabbing her GD-10 rifle and moving to get a squad together when she responded, "Copy that, we'll help the Forgotten."

XXXXXXXXX

**Forgotten Village**

**Two Miles North of Moscow, Russia**

**Red Zone**

Sarah's small team of Zone Troopers and Defenders arrived on the flank of an ECG cyborg group, made up of Awakened and Deathless, which were engaging the Forgotten defenders, manning Second Tiberium War machine gun nests and rocket launchers. They truly were a militia force rather than a proper military. Several ECG tanks, upgraded Scorpion Tanks, were also attacking the defenders.

"Target those cyborgs!" Sarah ordered as they entered range and opened fire with the GD-10's grenade launcher, hitting a group of cyborgs and causing them to stagger and some to drop dead again. The Zone Troopers fired their first volley as they closed the distance, the Rail Guns punching torso sized holes into the Scorpions' armor and even knocking the turrets off of them. The ECG forces turned to engage the GDI infantry, and the two groups started to trade firing lines.

The Zone Defenders' rockets proved easily more then enough to send cyborgs flying around, but their slow rate of fire left them vulnerable to Awakened counter attacks. The Troopers covered them, keeping suppressive fire up while they engaged the ECG soldiers.

Several Awakened got close to Sarah and began to assault her with melee, their gun-grafted hands smoldering and melted from GD-10 hits. They knocked her GD-10 out of her hands. Grabbing the first Awakened (which screamed), she began to swing it around like a baseball bat, her 360 degree swing knocking ECG cyborgs over as their comrade was turned into a lethal weapon against them. The cyborgs screamed as they were battered apart. Sarah let go as the cyborg's waist broke (to which it screamed even harder), both halves flying into a Scorpion Tank.

"Nice one Captain!" shouted one of the Zone Troopers as he came down from a jump jetting (as Sarah, like most GDI commanders, requisitioned the newly rechristened 'Assault Packs' for Zone infantry). He came down hard atop of an Awakened that was crawling with its two arms, trying to grab Sarah's foot (somehow forgetting it didn't have proper hands anymore), but the Awakened was crushed beneath the Zone Trooper's boot heel.

"Thanks," Sarah answered as she picked up her GD-10, a bit battered, but still working, and shot a Deathless about to shoot the Zone Trooper in the back with dual rockets.

The last ECG cyborgs pulled out, several Reckoner transports opening their doors as the cyborgs rushed in, but not like mechanical, mindless (and arguably selfless) warriors, but living, thinking, fearful humans.

Sarah sighed, feeling, to her surprise, sympathy for them… they still maintained their sanity, their minds… and were suffering from the cybernetics that they, for who knows what reason, accepted willingly. _To think that that could have been me being flung around like a baseball bat, knowing that I could be snapped in half by the sheer kinetic force…_

A Zone Trooper, with sergeant markings on his armor, walked up. "Ma'am," he said, saluting. "No casualties, but several wounds and our armor is in need of some repair. Nothing that's going to result in fatalities barring something excessive, however."

Sarah nodded, "Good, get the wounded some medical aid ASAP, let's not loose anyone we can save, especially if it's to minor breaches."

"Already done, Captain."

Sarah nodded, appreciative at the initiative of the sergeant. "Let's check on our Forgotten allies, then return to base."

A mutant officer came out, approaching Sarah. "Thank you for your assistance," the officer said, offering a hand. Sarah took it gently (for her), and they shook. "We'll be fine. Thanks again for the help."

"No problem," Sarah answered, and the officer returned to the village. "Alright men," she turned to the Zone infantry she was leading, "Let's get back to the node."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**TCN Construction Site #441**

"Captain!" shouted Commander Shou on the holoscreen in the briefing room at the camp, "Why the _blazes_ did you go engage those ECG bastards? You're orders were to guard the TCN Construction site, not go hold the hands of shiner barbarians!"

"With all due respect, '_commander'_," Sarah coldly responded, "the aid of the _Forgotten _has been a key to GDI in the past, forsaking such an alliance, militarily, is foolhardy. Second, there's the principle, the Forgotten may not be your definition of 'human' anymore, but they're still worthy of our protection. They're still a part of humanity."

"I am _ordering_ you not to aid those shiner scum!"

"What was that _sir_? You're breaking up." Sarah said almost sarcastically, then began adjusting the bandwidth discretely, creating the illusion of static, and cut the transmission. "Damn political lackeys."

"Nice one ma'am," commented one of the on-duty officers, a Steel Talon, "Been waiting for somebody to shut that ego case up. Shame we can't throw the political appointees off a cliff anymore."

"That's unsporting" said another communications officer, "Unless you give them a day's head start and a Mammoth Tank."

"Well, he'll probably send a squad for 'inspection', so let's square away, shall we?" Sarah said, seriously.

XXXXXXXX

**One Week Later**

**September 29****th****, 2064**

**TCN Pacific Hub**

**Guam**

**Yellow Zone, borderline Red.**

Ahsoka lit her lightsaber, whirling around as she caught several laser rounds with the ignited blade, causing them to bounce back and hit the mutant who had shot them from an old, rusty, salvaged GD-2 rifle. Over the last few weeks she had been trying to protect the TCN Hub that was barely complete and the base being built around it. Unusually intense guerilla warfare from mutant raiders, some coming from nearby islands, almost all of them remnants of the Pacific Tigers destroyed two months ago, and had been trying to capture the Hub, which was only just beginning to work in full with the final parts in. Unfortunately, the Pacific TCN nodes would take much more time, as few of them were fully complete, but Rios was pretty clear: the Pacific Hub had to be operation at the very least and Guam fortified, so that as the island-hopping Pacific theatre continued and GDI success mounted, the rest of the Nodes could be activated ASAP. Unfortunately, they couldn't protect each one as they lacked quick amphibious capability, and the Talons that Ahsoka had been lent to test were, although responding faster and keeping pressure up enough to allow other response to get there, couldn't do it alone by sheer virtue of weak armor… GDI needed other, more armored hovercraft, such as the Second Tiberium War era Hover MRLS.

She had found the jungle environment surprisingly comfortable, despite the fact that there was usually an ambush every three dozen meters. She wondered if it wasn't just because she was finally out of the pristine cities or endless sheets of crystalline Tiberium and finally had a different environment. However, the constant high-alert status was beginning to take its toll, already they had to switch the troops in circulation early twice.

She extended her awareness, and sensed the usual small life, but no mutants or other humans besides the two GDI Zone Enforcers with her. She turned her lightsaber off.

Several ducks began to honk at them, and Ahsoka shook her head.

"Quit honking," said one of the Enforcers as he reloaded his machine gun, "I'm reloading."

"Are ducks even native to this region?" asked the other Enforcer.

"Don't think so… must of migrated."

"Come on," Ahsoka said after the Enforcers finished reloading, "We have a patrol to finish."

They continued along the poorly-built road, which washed out quite often in the mud, and reached where they were heading: The coastline, at one of three landing points, where some defenses were being established.

"How's that sonic fence coming?" Ahsoka asked the engineers working on it.

"It'll be up and running before you know it, ma'am. Same with the other defenses." The engineer then turned back to connecting wires for a Guardian Cannon.

Ahsoka nodded, "Good, if something goes wrong, call." Although MCV technology allowed GDI to build most of their defenses near-instantly, MCVs were less then available due to their necessity for building the TCN itself, and even then it could not do so quickly, and only could produce the parts. This, unfortunately, meant that they had to build much of the defenses by hand and with heavy machinery.

As Ahsoka reached the Hub itself on her return trip, a communications officer ran out of the radar tower built. "Commander! Think you should see this!"

Ahsoka followed him into the radar tower and he punched up an image on the main screen… Nod, not ECG, Cobras were flying by, alongside a new version of the Nod Venom aircraft, this time smaller by about half and armed with dual rocket pods. They seemed to be on patrol in the Pacific. Supporting them was a pair of Nod batwing like bombers… but Ahsoka couldn't make them out until a radar scan revealed them as Vertigo bombers.

"So," Ahsoka commented, "Nod is expanding their air force, aren't they?"

"Probably." The communications officer said, "They're probably taking advantage of the alliance to develop their air force without us interfering."

Ahsoka nodded as she watched the Vertigo bombers create a small firestorm on a mutant raider's battleship, while the other craft strafed it. The rusty battleship sunk… and with it, another (small) threat to the TCN destroyed.

XXXXXXXXX

**October 1****st****, 2064**

_**GST Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

General Michael McNeil sat down on the bridge… the GST _Methuselah_ had been pulled off of Tiberium cleanup for a short time, and he was to make use of it for the newest addition to the GDI 'First Fleet', as the Global Stratospheric Transports had been called as a group.

"Launch the _Kodiak_." McNeil ordered.

From the GST's hanger bay, a large craft launched. It was fairly rectangular, with dual cannons on the front bottom side, while on the front top were dual chain guns. Twenty meters back of the 60 meter craft were another set of guns, on each side. Further back and in the middle was a small command bridge, and just behind it were the engines. The engines were pointed into the craft itself, and squared at the end, where a blue light was seen as it pushed the craft away from the _Methuselah_. The two engines had space between them, allowing for a rear viewport, which was (sarcastically) suggested for 'romantic proposals'.

"_Kodiak_ to McNeil. Radio check, one two three."

"McNeil to _Kodiak_, ten-four. Begin testing. Launching targeting debris now."

The _Kodiak_ angled its starboard flank towards the targeting area where some debris was launched outwards… and had a big red bull's eye painted onto it. The _Kodiak_ fired its starboard 200 millimeter cannons, four of them, and its dual chain guns, which spat out superheated bullets faster then McNeil could count. The blast from the cannons shook like the hit of a sea-based cruiser, blasting the debris backwards and scattering it to so-much scrap.

_Chandra, this is for you, old friend._ McNeil thought as the piece of debris exploded under the barrage.

"_Kodiak_ to McNeil, test complete."

"Copy that _Kodiak_, you're clear for Atmospheric Descent, give good Commander Tano my regards. Mitchell says she'll get a kick out of seeing the _Kodiak_'s return."

"Ten-Four chief."

The _Kodiak_ began to descend. It was not a resurrection of McNeil's command ship during the Second Tiberium War… it was GDI's first step towards a space-going navy. While according to the classifications Mitchell offered, the _Kodiak _would only be a light frigate, for now, it was a heavy airborne capital ship for GDI, which would be able to match Scrin Devastator Warships and Planetary Assault carriers in size.

Commander Ricardo Vega walked up. McNeil nodded to the nephew of his former (almost) arch-enemy, General Vega. _Ironic… Vega was practically my arch enemy, his brother, Javier Vega, was one of my officers… and now Javier's son is my second-in-command within RAID. Irony to be certain._

"Commander," McNeil nodded.

"Sir." Vega said, saluting. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"I was taking a look at the disposal system… the cargo bay had enough room we could probably station drop pods for rapid response units. If there's a trouble spot, a GST can turn overhead to it, drop in reinforcements, and answer the threat."

McNeil nodded, "The idea's been purposed, but the Council won't buy it, they say they need the Fleet to be working on Tiberium cleanup twenty-four/seven, barring small exercises like testing the new _Kodiak_."

Vega nodded, "Let's hope we can find another rapid response mechanism then… the Harriers are good, but drop pods would be faster."

McNeil nodded, "I share the concern."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Ten Minutes Later**

**Pacific Hub**

**Guam**

**Yellow Zone**

Ahsoka was surprised when she heard the super-sonic thrusters overhead, and when she looked up, she was surprised to see a GDI airborne capital ship coming in to land at the base's extra-large helipad.

"Someone's been watching too many sci-fi movies," commented one of the Zone Troopers nearby as it came in to land.

"Probably not," chimed in a Zone Defender, "Rumor had it McNeil was getting nostalgic, well, looks like the _Kodiak_ is back."

"And armed for war." Ahsoka added as she squinted to make it out clearly, seeing the gun emplacements on it.

As the _Kodiak_ was landing, Ahsoka could make out words on the bottom, written in Nod red: _I'm back!_ Ahsoka had a shrewd idea that the back was supposed to have the 'a' dragged out when pronounced.

The _Kodiak_ landed, and out of it came a very satisfied looking captain… Ahsoka recognized him quickly as Captain Soanso, who was the great-grandson of the man who went by the same name (and title) during the First Tiberium War. He served within GDI's navy, but was forced to switch to piloting after Tiberium had damaged the planet's waterways nearly beyond repair. He had a great hatred for Tiberium and related things (such as mutants) because of such, but it looked like he might of found a new calling with what looked like the first step of GDI's _space_ naval forces.

"Captain," Ahsoka said as he approached, "Impressive toy."

"Thank you… ma'am." Soanso said, hesitantly. "General McNeil asked us to park it here, as the GST that was borrowed for the first launch has to be returned about now."

"By all means."

"Thank you… ma'am. A warning, it needs special Tiberium-derived fuel, I'll send the formula to your supply officer."

"I'll warn him then." With that, the two nodded and left.

_Wow… GDI is finally getting a space-worthy navy. Sure, that thing is only a _very_ light frigate at best in comparison to the Republic's cruisers, but they can pack a punch if used right._

As she entered, her wrist EVA beeped. McNeil appeared as a hologram on it.

"Commander, the _Kodiak_ project is going to be based in the Pacific for a while," McNeil began, "Given it has countering the Scrin in mind, I think the Taskforce should get a look at it. Don't tell Soanso however, he doesn't trust you at all due to the fact you're a 'unofficial' Forgotten."

Ahsoka nodded, "Understood, General. We'll take a look and see what can be done to improve it."

"Thank you, Commander." McNeil nodded, and the transmission winked out.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**October 3****rd****, 2064**

**Nod Research Facility**

**Codename: **_**Omega Actual**_

**Strait of Gibraltar**

**Blue Zone**

Kane walked down the corridor, where some of his most ambitious scientists were assembling.

As he entered, he looked at each of them. Men and women, some old, some young, it was almost as if there were some of every so-called 'race' of humans. _Oh how I find humanity's creation of so many 'human races' to be richly ironic._ Kane thought as the connection was made.

"Brothers, sisters." Kane began, "You know why I have called you here. While we are secure with GDI, and when the time comes, we will prevail… GDI is advancing its technology faster than anticipated, despite Rios and Riggs pulling back the GDI R&D budget, it seems the Steel Talons and Firestorm Taskforce are acting paramilitary, ensuring that GDI gets it's next generation weapons using any funds they can spare from defending the TCN and authorized R&D, quite often with funds left to rot within the accounts of officers of said groups, who volunteered their cash to fund the next generation."

The various scientists already knew this, and some had even argued exposing the almost paramilitary research and development of the Talons to slow down GDI's tech curve, Kane had other ideas. They would need the technology to fight Gideon, when he returned, or the Scrin, when they came back for revenge.

"Idle hands are the devil's playground," Kane continued, "if we let our technology stagnant and only improve moderately, like the GDI Firehawk or Mammoth Tank, with no major technological breakthroughs and simple upgrades, the devils _will_ feast on us in battle. We must develop further… when Ascension comes, we will face a great test, and our forces must be ready. Offensively, Defensively… by land and _air_."

The scientists, some catching on, looked at each other as they realized what Kane was saying.

"We must develop the next generation of aircraft and weapons; already GDI has beaten us to space and to airborne capital ships rivaling the Visitors. We cannot let GDI have sole supremacy in this area. They are not afraid of the public knowing that GDI space-born warships are _in existence_, and as we speak, they test their new _Kodiak_ further in the Pacific Hub. If we are to face the Visitors during an early return, or rogue GDI forces, we will need to have something to equal them."

One of the older scientists, whom Kane recognized as Abbot John W.E. Vladislav, stood up.

"Kane, I have recently broken the Visitor's armor composites for their Devastators and Carriers, this would be most useful in developing our next generation of technology. Unfortunately, GDI, and the Firestorm Taskforce in particular, are adept at noticing such, and this may raise suspicion if they see the technology in development."

Another scientist nodded, "We've reopened our tunnel network… such could be expanded to allow tests for our aircraft in secret. While it wouldn't be a field test, we can develop the technology in relative secrecy, and store the prototypes once finished until it's time to unveil them."

"Then get to it." Kane said, and the scientists got up to go towards their tasks, "Let _Project Omega_ begin."

XXXXXXX

**October 8****th****, 2064**

**Pacific TCN Hub**

**Guam**

**Yellow Zone**

"**Commander,"** EVA said, **"General Mitchell is on the line."**

"Put him through," Ahsoka said, sitting in her small office, which she used out of necessity (as going through lists of requisition forms was not easy to do on a wrist EVA, never mind the other responsibilities of command). Mitchell then appeared in a hologram on her desk, and he nodded.

"Ahsoka, I just got a message from Ghostalker. There's a large mutant assembly going at their unofficial capital, Rio de Janeiro, down in South America. They want some GDI representatives there. General Riggs isn't interested, despite him fitting their bill in authority. You're going to have to go down there with McNeil and liaison. Colonel James is closer, yes, but she has her hands full with ECG at the Buenos Aires Hub and doesn't anticipate being available."

Ahsoka nodded, "I assume that the Pacific Hub is going to be covered while I'm gone?"

"Yeah, Rex is going to take command of it until you're back. Don't worry, he can watch over both."

Ahsoka nodded, knowing very well that Rex could cover both bases, especially since he would simply be commanding the Pacific base from wherever he was using the EVA network to link to the Pacific.

"Alright then, when's the meeting?"

"Twentieth, so make preparations."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**October 20****th****, 2064**

**Forgotten Capital (unofficially)**

**Rio de Janeiro, Brazil**

**Yellow Zone**

Ahsoka looked over the number of mutant leaders from various groups, alliances, and clans. The room they were in was somewhat dingy, but until the Forgotten were out of the proverbial ditch, they wouldn't have it any other way to show the leaders lived like their people did (which was true), though Ghostalker did work to clean it up a bit to be polite to his guests. While it was not representatives of _all_ the mutants, some choosing to continue their raiding, it was a large number. McNeil, who was standing next to her, inhaled.

_If what Ghostalker said is true, this could be where the Forgotten put their almost feudalistic, tribal style of leadership aside and unite once more, this time as a representation of the whole mutant population._

The talks began as the various mutant leaders identified themselves, and whom they represented. Mentally checking off the groups, Ahsoka realized that it was easily over three fourths of the mutant population, with the remaining quarter sticking to their raiding ways or incapable of sending a representative.

Finally, Ghostalker stood up. He had become the full leader of the Forgotten recently when Dread Milano, a charismatic mutant who had limited precognition, had been assassinated by an unknown assassin within Forgotten territory where there were no non-mutants, which left who actually committed the black murder unknown.

"Friends," Ghostalker began, "It has been almost fifty years since many of us suffered from Tiberium outbreak… and only thirty-four since the Second Tiberium War, when our plight became known. Over the years, we have been varied, at times, we've been together working towards a brighter future… sometimes, we broke and dissolved into raiders, bandits who kill for personal gain… and, in some cases, the understandable concern of survival. I purpose that, now, today, we reform the Forgotten to represent _all_ the victims of Tiberium outbreak, those who are _human_, but changed by Tiberium. Let us reform the Forgotten into a state, an ally, or, if it must be so, a foe of the Global Defense Initiative, which has long stood at our side, and when we chose to left civilized society, offered what aid they could spare for us."

_Well,_ Ahsoka thought, _as much aid as we could spare without Boyle or similar yammering at us about wasting resources._

The various leaders seemed to be thinking similar things, but Ghostalker seemed to be positively winning some of the more reluctant over, if only for the fact that he said that GDI might become an _enemy_, if it became necessary._ Of course, he'd search for a peaceful solution, but purposing the Forgotten to be ready to defend themselves, even against GDI, is reasonable, given Rios and those damn Human-high purist maniacs that are becoming a larger percentage of GDI every year._ By 2077, it was estimated they'd be almost 15% of GDI, gaining at one percent a year.

"Now, who supports such a notion…?"

But before any votes could be cast, the door burst open, two mutant guards (of the local guard) falling dead with smoking holes in their chests. Black armored soldiers walked in, reminding Ahsoka of Clone Troopers, but she knew instinctively they weren't Clone Troopers; the armor was a very dark grey, almost black. The faces were 'exposed' in the helmets, but there was a faceplate in front, pitch black, obscuring the face from view (and Ahsoka had a very shrewd idea that they didn't do the opposite for the wearers). They were armed with what looked like sub machine guns. She suddenly realized that it was more of the mysterious soldiers who had assaulted her in Russia. Without thinking, she leapt over, lightsaber ignited, and came crashing down on the leader before he could raise his rifle at the delegates, impaling him in the head. The other soldiers started shouting, and opened fire on her. Creating a hailstorm of defense, she parried most of the laser-based rounds and knocked them back to the shooters, but she took several hits, which her commando armor took. A large, blue beam suddenly erupted behind Ahsoka, killing a row of the attackers… Ghostalker had gotten his old-model Rail Gun (which could shoot through several people before fading, but had considerable recoil and radiation that only a Tiberium mutated human could handle), and joined the defense. McNeil was already calling for RAID forces to get in there and defend the Forgotten.

"Unknown forces attacking the city, I repeat, unknown forces attacking the city! All civilians to shelter, all civilians to the shelt- Gah!" shouted someone over the alarm… then a horrifying death rattle before he could repeat the warning a third time.

"We must mobilize the defenses," Ghostalker said, reloading, "General McNeil, can you call upon GDI reinforcements?"

"Working on it," McNeil said, working on his EVA unit, "Someone's jammed all GDI transmissions!"

"That's not good," Ahsoka said as she tried her own EVA, no connection at all, "Someone studied for this. GDI EVA units are near impossible to jam."

"Agreed," Ghostalker said, "Someone has prepared well for this. Come, we need to secure the city, there are innocent lives at stake."

Ahsoka followed Ghostalker outside and, to their shock, they saw more of the black-clad hit squads massacring any mutant they could, the local Forgotten Peacekeepers pinned down all over the city, their various weaponry not suited for combat with the elite, black-clad shock troopers. Forgotten military vehicles, most of the time salvaged, older vehicles from previous eras, attempted to respond as well and protect the civilian Forgotten, but the black clad murderers had brought rocket launchers, blowing the aging tanks to so-much scrap metal.

"Deploy Sidewinders!" Ghostalker ordered into his wrist radio, and suddenly, a squadron of aircraft, resembling older, First Tiberium War era 'Warthog' attack jet fighters, suddenly launched and activated grafted on VTOL engines, hovering over some of the battle sites and strafing the black-armored attackers like hawks looking for prey. Unfortunately, the black attackers used rocket launchers to retaliate, damaging each one and bringing two down.

Ahsoka rushed forward at a barricade of black foes, some engaging Forgotten security divisions, the others hurling various high explosive weapons with wild abandon, as if they cared not for the civilians. Screams were numerous as the battle, no, massacre, raged…

Ahsoka could feel it all, almost accelerated and brought closer to her due to the fact that all the Forgotten had some form of Tiberium in their veins or body. The pain of the innocent, the blood, spilling and being vaporized by the black murderers, clad behind black faceplates and armored against Tiberium and the Forgotten's weaponry, all of it pounded at Ahsoka as she opened herself up to it all, letting the reality sink in: War was hell, and more often then not, the true casualties were the innocents caught in it.

Ahsoka saw a young girl blown apart as she was desperately looking for her mother, just shot, deliberately, by one of the black-armored attackers, for being born with Tiberium mutations. The murderous 'soldier' and his 'friends' then _laughed _at how far the murdered girl had flown from the knockback of the slug.

"_That's_ _**ENOUGH!**_" Ahsoka shouted, letting her emotions sink through. Anger… how could she not feel anger for the wholesale _murder_? It was a natural emotion, one that everyone felt, Jedi or no, when the innocent were _slaughtered_, butchered like… cattle. Anger lead to hatred? Easily, but for now, 'hatred' was more accurately **righteous rage**. She had power; she could _use_ it to protect the innocent, why hold back when innocent lives were at stake? Why? Opening herself up fully to the Force, Ahsoka drew on the underground Tiberium veins, and, arcing her arms to charge it and ensure control, launched lightning at the entrenched murderers as they were trying to demolish the supports of a civilian building, causing them to _scream_ as electricity coursed through their bodies. Scattered, stunned, and many now dying in spasms, Ahsoka rushed in, ignoring several bullet wounds as she cut through the murderers, even as they screamed in fear as judgment was delivered she didn't hold back, she waded through them, like a laser through butter she cut them open, leaving their smoking limbs to fall on the ground with dull finality.

"What… kill her!" shouted one of the black clad officers, turning a _Rail Gun_ at Ahsoka. She parried the bolt with her lightsaber, the intense energy of it almost passing through, but the heat from the lightsaber stopped it from going through wholly. The officer suddenly looked stunned… "You… how?! Fall back, destruction of the muties as we go! Hut!"

The man ran and attempted to shoot a child scrambling to get to cover… but Ahsoka wasn't letting that happen again. Anger was coursing through her body at the slaughter, and if she had to take a walk on the _dark_ side to stop it, so be it. Without thinking, her hand extended, and closed into a grip. The officer suddenly dropped his gun, hands grasping his throat as he gagged. Ahsoka lifted her hand, and he rose a foot off the ground. Turning him around and walking up to him, she used the Force to hurl his helmet off, the anger causing it's seals to be overwhelmed with stress, and the helmet went tumbling away, along with it the faceplate.

Ahsoka couldn't deny it, if not for the fact his eyes were almost bulging in fear, which the rest of his face shared, he would have been considered handsome with his blue eyes, blond hair, and fair, flawless skin.

"Do… your… worst." He managed to gurgle out, foam forming at his mouth as his lungs grasped, even screamed, for air. Ahsoka could feel the pain he was in… and how ironically fitting it was that he was dying slowly.

Behind her, McNeil ran up to her, a borrowed rifle in his hands, and Ghostalker was next to him.

Ahsoka closed her grip, and she could literally feel the man's neck snapped, and he dropped dead, eyes wide open as his head lay back at a painful angle.

Ahsoka suddenly felt tired as the battle, no, massacre ended, the Forgotten rounding up surviving murderers and clapping them, painfully, in chains and dragging them quite painfully, angrily, and roughly along.

"How many." Ahsoka finally asked, her voice tired, but anger was conveyed… an anger that was almost **dark** in nature.

"Too many," McNeil said, "And almost all the Forgotten casualties' civilians… it was a wholesale massacre, merciless and cold blooded."

"When I find the bastard responsible for this," Ahsoka said as she looked at the dead officer, "he or she is going to wish they were never born. And if I have to cut up all their murderous lackeys, so much the better."

Ghostalker gave a grave nod as what just happened broke open to Ahsoka.

XXXXXXXXXX

**One Day Later**

**October 21****st****, 2064**

**Pacific Hub**

**Guam**

Sarah, who had arrived that day, looked at Ahsoka (who's hands were shaking heavily) from behind, almost swearing she had snapped during what was being called the "Rio Riot" by various GDI soldiers, some of them almost _amused_ by it. Ahsoka had an almost permanent scowl on her face, which rarely softened… her sometimes overly casual manner had seemingly vaporized in the aftermath of what happened.

She had heard what happened… Ahsoka somehow lifted someone, an officer amongst the murderous brigands, by the throat, barely lifting a finger, and literally choked him to death. The aftermath was even more devastating… it turned out that someone in GDI high command had arranged for Ahsoka's and McNeil's EVA to be disconnected from the network, isolating them from calling in GDI reinforcements or even reporting the incident until it was_ far_ too late. And not only that, they somehow had video recordings of the whole thing, and no one was revealing the source... and a number of them, particularly images of Ahsoka choking the murderous 'officer', had been spread to the media. Backlash was coming into GDI, some demanding the 'shiner's blood be spilt'. Rios would _have_ to do something with the hate that was coming in, or it'd cost GDI it's public support, which was it's life.

On the Forgotten summit itself, it had actually gone surprisingly well, but there was one major caveat: The Forgotten were fully withdrawing their support to GDI beyond a few token volunteer infantry squads and spare crewed vehicles, composed of those who would have joined GDI if they weren't concerned for their family back in Forgotten territory. Ghostalker expressed considerable regret, fondly citing the friendships that were easily strained beyond belief by such a choice, but, true to his word to the other Forgotten leaders, he accepted the decision, if not with regrets. While he would not go into details, Ghostalker also revealed the Forgotten would be creating their own arsenal and a proper military, a force to protect all mutants, created in an almost feudal fashion: Mutual protection and aid, with the pecking order established on skill and trustworthiness. Generals Mitchell, Rex, McNeil, and her father, in a honest sign of good faith (those four were also proven wholly innocent of the EVA disruption scandal, beyond any shadow of a doubt), had offered to send training officers to teach the soldiers effective tactics, but the Forgotten, after some debate, chose to decline. They did, however, allow Ghostalker to liaison with GDI directly, often doing so with McNeil, who, in addition to his RAID duties, became the official GDI/Forgotten liaison.

"Ahsoka," Sarah asked, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"No," Ahsoka answered, almost biting the word, "I'm not. _How_ can I keep on going if I know I _have_ the power to stop such, but 'morality' keeps me from doing so? I can cut through an entire battalion of enemies and walk away like it was practically nothing. I can throw enemies so far it's not funny… I can even channel and create _lightning_ and use it… _how_,_** how,**_ can I live with myself knowing that because I held back my power, I might of let an innocent _die_? That's blood on my hands for simply holding back."

The answer shocked her, but somehow, it didn't. _Think it through, haven't you felt that before, felt so helpless as you were forced to watch the Scrin butcher people like cattle during the early invasion and you were lucky if you even bought someone a second to escape? Ahsoka has much greater power then you… and with that, responsibility… a responsibility that can seem impossible._

"Ahsoka, maybe there's a reason why you're supposed to limit yourself." Sarah finally said, "Its part of why GDI uses a combat cycle for its soldiers when possible, they are switched between higher risk assignments and combat, then 'plum assignments' to let them recover. You've been in almost straight combat since the TCN was first entering construction… maybe it's time to pace yourself, before you lose who you are?"

"But," Ahsoka said, "what if that just gets more people killed? Sarah, I can't just say 'hey, I'm not going to risk my sanity to save you, sorry you aren't worthy'."

"Whoa, hold on Ahsoka, no one is saying that." Sarah answered, cutting that line of thought off (or so she hoped), "Ahsoka, if you go insane or lose your self control, _how_ can you use your abilities to protect the innocent? Is it better to take a smaller risk now, or almost guarantee a greater tragedy later?"

"A small risk? Someone's life is a small risk?"

"That's not what I said."

"Sounded like it."

"Ahsoka! GDI is stretched thin, yes, but you're one soldier who's _irreplaceable_, because of you power… Damn it Ahsoka, if you waste yourself early. If you do that, when you're desperately needed, you might be 'too pooped to pop' as the saying goes. I'm all for saving as many people as possible, you know that when there's civilians the first thing I do is get them to safety, and so do you, and Rex, and Mitchell, and half of GDI! That's why the Taskforce is geared towards preparation, so that when GDI finally fails, someone can step up."

Ahsoka sighed, "I… I just don't know. When I choked that man… that murderer… I felt… I felt like everything I had been told, everything I was trained for… even people I respected all my life, were… hypocrites, as if they didn't _know_ what war truly was to the innocent we claimed to protect… and a lot of them are on the front lines, and doesn't make sense that they wouldn't know."

"Maybe they knew," Sarah said, "what such power can do to the mind. Realizing how easy it is to fall into comfort when you don't limit yourself and simply push further… it's almost, evil, if you know what I mean, grabbing more power. You used yours to protect the innocent… some would say how you killed that damn officer guy was a sin, but me? I say he got what he deserved… though I think he should of gotten it in a trial, just to show the warts. Now here's my question, are you sure you're fighting the good fight, if you pace yourself and avoid giving into that anger, that primal rage? Yes, we're soldiers, we tap into that killer instinct, but we do it so others don't have to. Is that something you can deal with, or is it finally time to hang up the rifle?"

"I… I really don't know now. I'm not putting my 'saber in a box just yet, but I have to figure out who I am, if you know what I mean. Am I a hero for using everything I could use to protect the innocent and punish the murderers, or am I just as bad as them for using power that I _shouldn't_ be tapping into to do that? The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. I think I'm about to start paving my part of the road if I keep that kind of action up."

"What do you think you need?"

"Time to think about it, get myself straightened out, assuming I have time for it."

"Well," said someone at the door, a man, "I know you can get some time to _think_ about it, shiner. Rios just ordered you to be pulled off the front for a while, to work on training some of our forces. Surprised she even trusts you with that, but she's the boss."

"Oh, look who it is," Sarah said sourly, turning around, "'Commander' Shou…"

"Yes, _Captain_. Rios has ordered her off the lines for such a sickening display of power _**abuse**_, until she's _cooled off,_ her rank is temporarily decommissioned. I'm taking command of the Hub and the _Taskforce_ soldiers here, while you, _Granger_, are going to be responsible for ensuring that _my_ orders are carried out. Now, let's get her junk out of my new office. Come on, _Captain_, I have a carrier to continue, and I won't be doing it in a shiner's piss-poor shithole."

With that, he turned to leave pompously, arrogantly, and haughtily. Ahsoka looked at him…

"You made your point Sarah." Ahsoka finally said, and got up, "Power does make someone crazy when it's not limited... but I wouldn't change what I did if I had a second chance, innocent lives being destroyed by murderous attacks like that is something we _shouldn't_ hold back against."

"When you do go all out though, the trick is to bring yourself back down to earth."

"Agreed."

Sarah then got up, but she knew quite well that even if Rios stripped Ahsoka of her rank, hell, even arranged for her execution or imprisonment, the Taskforce would remain loyal. If there was one thing they had prepared for, it was for when GDI finally self-destructed. It nearly happened with Redmond Boyle, and Sarah almost lost her life before she even realized her love for Rex or birthed who would most likely be a prominent leader in GDI's future, because of Boyle. The Taskforce was mandated to protect the world from the Scrin and similar threats… but what's to say that humanity's biggest threat is actually an external force? What if humanity's greatest threat is… humanity?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Notes:**

**The choice to go as dark as I did with what seemed to be an innocent meeting… something had to happen to catalyst a break between the Forgotten and GDI, I'm sorry, I like the two teamed up, but they're too different now, and Rios' GDI is different then the Generals' GDI. As you noted, there's an increase in GDI incompetence and political backstabbing… GDI's under toned dark side.**

**I know, big shock seeing Ahsoka give someone the (intentionally) ironic Vader-Grip… well, think about it, she's been in almost constant alert for about 30 years and fought the equivalent of several wars (Clone Wars, various skirmishes before the Third Tiberium War, the Third Tiberium War, the aftermath of it, Mount Cheyenne, various aftermath conflicts as humanity started self destructing due to Tiberium, and now the TCN conflict), I mean, she's got to have been suffering from the constant warfare and associated stress. I know that in WWII (the real one, not the C&C spin of it) the British cycled their soldiers between 'battle days' and 'recovery days' due to the psychological stress of war… well, it took a while, but seeing kids get shot can't be easy… it was dark, and intentionally so. I had to get across that those black attackers were **_**not**_** your conventional bandit group… they're cold blooded killers. Now, does this mean we'll be seeing a female Vader? Most likely not… she had a dark moment, just like Anakin had before he became Vader… what can I say, like Master, like Apprentice. Just like when they killed Bolla Ropal in **_**The Clone Wars**_**, I didn't think twice about changing how dark the scene was, it had to be dark.**

**Remember, due to Red Alert being considered 'canon' for this, WWII as we know it, and the Holocaust, 'never happened', so humanity never saw something like it except for Stalin's purges… but they were random, not directed against any specific groups (or rarely were). So no one will draw the connection and stop it, the strike on Rio is basically a taste of what may well come in the future and give humanity just as big a wake up call. **

**Shou… well, what can I say, he's a bastard and he's a political appointee. What can I say, I think he has more connections then skills.**

**Also, the Tiberian Twilight version of the Kodiak has only 3 gun emplacements in an asymmetrical layout, but practically, I thought that was kind of silly, so for the fic it has four guns. Wouldn't exactly make it OP… would it?**_**how**_


	7. Chapter 7: Madness and Spartans

_We have to be careful, General Secretary, the Firestorm Taskforce is overly independent, if we push them too far, they may go rogue. Worse, Colonel James' is getting more support, albeit unintentionally, because she's an anti-Kane GDI Officer and knowing her, she'll take a shot at Kane the moment he does something remotely suspicious. I'd suggest we give her a little promotion for her skill, which she has shown several times legitimately. This should pacify them for a while. Also, with Commander Tano officially off the lines, we have a chance to reduce to the Taskforce's independence, as she won't have access to the Taskforce, or shouldn't. However, Granger's daughter will be a problem, especially if she turns into an heir of leadership; in fact, she's one of the Taskforce's Seconds-in-Command. Fortunately, Commander Shou should be able to push her to the point where we can justify having her 'removed.' She is proving surprisingly disciplined and restrained, but minor infractions are growing at the Pacific Hub by various members of the Taskforce. Not enough to threaten discipline, but soldiers are chafing enough that Shou's small reinforcement party may have difficulty if they revolt at once… with respect, the political appointees do much more harm then good, sure they keep us fairly well informed on the Firestorm Taskforce and other such divisions, but their military incompetence is costing us more than we're gaining, and the Taskforce is getting much better at keeping their activities discrete and unknown to the two of us. If we're going to have this network of informants, we need them to be _competent_ militarily. I understand that most competent soldiers are more loyal to the Steel Talons then they are to you, but we need at least basic competence off the bat._

-General Riggs advising General Secretary Evelyn Rios (the GDI title Director having been removed to 'move forward') on recent events regarding Rios' plan to consolidate (military) power within the GDI council, and not the GDI Generals.

**Chapter 7: Madness and Spartans**

**January 4****th****, 2065**

**GDI Training Center**

**London, UK**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka rubbed her forehead. For the last three months they had her away from the lines, and news on the front was, although good, worrying. No ECG had been encountered beyond chance encounters, and it was getting Rios overconfident. Colonel James had, as a footnote for Ahsoka, been promoted to a Commander for her 'bravery on the lines'. Ahsoka figured it was to silence the anti-Rios protests that were growing in GDI… and a large part of the army was chafing under Rios' leadership. Even though Riggs still lead them, he worked under Rios' politics. Although Ahsoka was supposed to still be a Commander, just 'off the lines', some of the other training officers made it increasingly plain that this was only until someone could find a legitimate excuse to finish her off, once they did, they'd 'remove' her.

Ahsoka had been assigned to training rejects and remedial cases, due to being 'uniquely suited' for such. To the shock of the 'elite' within society, Ahsoka had turned the rejects around and helped them find their calling, though sometimes it lay out of the armed forces. She didn't say it was a bad thing, and told them, honestly, that not everyone was made for it and that if their calling is something else, follow it, and it's not a crime or a mark of dishonor. And really, if someone isn't suited for the armed forces, why force them to keep going through the training, especially if it's almost killing them?

The door opened, and to her surprise, Rex walked in.

"This as a General or as a friend?" Ahsoka asked, which really meant _on duty_ or _personal_.

"Both. As a General, I'm giving you the next set of recruits; you're not on 'reject-duty' anymore… though they aren't giving you much to work with and well, a number of them are reject worthy. The only ones on the list I think are any good are Coric his friend, Warren, and maybe ten others. Don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'll see if Coric and his friend can't be moved, but I don't have _any_ weight at all here, especially at avoiding political traps."

Rex nodded, and the two knew what was happening: Rios was hoping to discretely create a scandal by taking advantage of the fact that Coric was now of military age and was joining GDI as a soldier… and since Ahsoka was, by Rex having adopted her (though technically it was just so InOps wouldn't be suspicious of her), family, if Coric or Warren did brilliantly in comparison with the rest of the class, it could potentially be seen as favoritism.

"I'll see if I can't move it either, on the basis that, yes, it's random picks, but it's a case of it might be hard to prove that it's not favoritism."

"Well, I'll just have to try and make them all graduate well."

Rex nodded. "So, how you feeling? I haven't had much of a chance to visit."

Ahsoka nodded, "I think I've gotten my compass straightened out, though I admit, I still see it in my dreams." That was a bit of an understatement, some of the bully-like training officers were constantly reminding her about it and bullying her, literally trying to provoke her into attacking them. It had taken all of Ahsoka's discipline to avoid throwing them into the opposite wall with the Force, and she was still tempted to do it and had several close calls. _I won't let Rios know that her 'off the lines' assignment is getting to me._ She wasn't kidding herself, being off the lines while others were risking it was beginning to wear her down, but she intended not to give in until Rios finally realized she lost the moral high ground, which she never had.

The last three months were also time she was using to think about things… what she did at Rio de Janeiro during the attack on it was haunting her, especially at night in her dreams. It changed at times though, sometimes she saw it as she remembered it from her eyes, other times as if the video… sometimes the dreams had her clad in almost evil-looking black armor, darker then the ones worn by the murderers. No, she wasn't a young Padawan who was still growing up anymore, but as she looked back, it hit her harder and harder what she had done. She realized it: she had gone over to the Dark Side of the Force. She knew that yes, she brought herself back to her senses before she lost if wholly, but it still scared her how… _easy_ it happened for lack of a better term. It reminded her of fears she had when she was still in her teens, fighting in a war she never should have been in, the Clone Wars, worrying about what she'd become as an adult, wondering if she'd make her master proud. It was coming back to her, reminding her, nagging her.

She pushed it out of her mind for the moment, she had a class to prepare for and a training regiment to ready, and Rex was still there.

"Thanks for coming personally Rex," she said, "Means a lot to me. How's Sarah doing, by the way? I haven't heard from anyone in the Taskforce in a while… at least, not without the whole message blacked out by one of Rios' com officers."

"A lot better, but Shou is still being an arrogant barve to her, treating her like a servant. I checked his record; he hadn't done it in the past. He's acting like a king and she's his wench, I'm almost tempted to go down there myself and _knock_ some sense into him and bring him back into regulation."

"Don't give Rios the satisfaction," Ahsoka answered, "some of her appointed training officers here are trying to get me to do what you're thinking of to 'em. I'm not giving them any satisfaction."

Rex nodded, "Well, we just have to weather the storm, just like old times."

"Yeah… old times. See you around."

With that, Rex left, nodding. Ahsoka sunk back into her chair, rubbing her eyes. Things were getting tense; GDI was beginning to almost implode under strain from politics. If things kept as they were doing, it could potentially cause a split… political analysts were linking it to how GDI had grown 'renegade' over time when the Generals held power due to the fact that they knew that there were competent officers, and now faith in GDI's leadership was beginning to slip. Slowly, and surely, it was slipping. The Forgotten leaving GDI as a whole was often attributed to the fact that it was politicians who, honestly, detested (if mild) or outright hated mutants.

_I really hope civil war doesn't break out… we can't afford it, it'd give Gideon, Kane, hell, just about anyone a chance to make a play. Somehow, this situation has to be defused._

_XXXXXXXX_

**January 6****th****, 2065**

**GDI Training Center**

**London, UK**

**Blue Zone**

Coric stood at attention, Warren next to him and a large number of various other recruits (around 44 total, enough for a GDI Platoon, in accordance to the new Order of Battle) were also waiting, albeit roughly, at attention. All of them had just completed basic training and had chosen the infantry division of GDI. _I think,_ Coric thought as he glanced around, avoiding moving his head, _that half of them haven't even thought of how to figure out how to hold a gun before now… hey, isn't that Hayley? I thought she had no interest in the armed forces; she's some big-wig VIP's daughter…_

"Attention!" someone, a woman, practically barked from the door, snapping his thoughts as some of the soldier instinct he had inherited kicked in. Ahsoka walked in, clad, as usual, in GDI Commando armor, and she was looking over the recruits with keen eyes. Despite their best efforts, some of the others broke into whispering or gaping, but tried to hide it. After about a minute of failed concealment…

"I'd advise not whispering when at attention," Ahsoka calmly said, looking at the offenders, "That's a good way to get yourself in a _world_ of hurt."

The clear cut warning (arguably threat) was quite clear. "Let's get something straight, you've heard of me, but no matter what you've heard, until you've finished training, or resigned, if you decide military life isn't for you, we're strictly professional in relationship. Personal comments? Save them for Mess Hall, off time, and Leave. Something to say about someone's looks? Keep it to yourself and focus on your job. Am I understood?"

"Ma'am yes ma'am," came the (attempted) unison response.

"Most sergeants are content with watching you do the work, I'm not, but it's my job right now to turn you into competent soldiers. So expect me to be working _with_ you, but I won't carry your weight, and I expect everyone to at the very least pull their own. Am I understood?"

"Ma'am yes ma'am!"

"Good. Follow me."

With that, she lead them to the indoor track, which also doubled, when necessary, for other uses such as a rifle range, an area to have trainees run or work out, and, when there are inter 'class' contests, competitions.

"I don't know where half of you are physically," Ahsoka began as she led them to the actual track, "So we start off with basics. Let's see a mile, that's eight laps. On my mark…"

Coric and the others got on the starting line, the outside, and smiled at Warren, who made a similar choice. The two were capable of an 8 minute mile, without going full out… and they knew some of the others weren't going to last past two laps… Hayley came to mind for Coric. _Yep… she's the youngest daughter of the UK Blue Zone's Minister of Taxes or whatever it is… she probably had to join the corps or was pressured to do so…_ An unfortunate side affect of how near humanity had been to extinction three years ago was that, barring the understandable causes such as only one child who was working in something else or injured (or in the case of a lady, childbirth), not having at least one familial member in GDI's armed forces was seen as a sign of dishonor, as it was 'not doing their part'. Coric, as well as many within the military itself, distasted it heavily, knowing that it often was landed on the unwanted child or the one with the least aptitude into hell itself… and ironically, it had lead to some powerful stories, such as _The Soldier Without a Choice_, which was a true story (almost a documentary) about the daughter of a high ranking politician who had sent her to the armed forces because he needed some 'political credit', and she turned out to not only serve well in the forces, but wound up being honorably discharged after, when GDI was being pushed back in the Australian Red Zones during a major ECG offensive, lost her leg to a blast ordnance wound. It was a stirring story, described as "As close to the reality as a book can be"… and also caused a scandal about politicians "disregarding their own flesh and blood". It had brought the issue to point, but unfortunately, it could not be legally defined or prevented, as it was still the 'choice' of the 'volunteered' weather or not to risk their lives on the battlefield.

A gunshot went off and Coric began with a light jog, Warren right next to him, and they steadily built it up instead of going all out at once as some of the others had, and quickly began to pass them, taking the fore.

Minutes passed as they began to take the clear lead, only a few others keeping close to them, with the majority falling disappointingly and visibly behind.

Finally, after the eighth lap, they crossed the finish strongly, and Ahsoka gave a nod, "Eight minutes and three seconds. Not bad… Avery, Bert, Eight minutes, ten seconds."

And so it continued for another two minutes as the stragglers finally came in behind. Ahsoka was honestly disappointed in some of them; it was visible on her face as she shook her head, "Ten minutes, zero seconds Hayley, you have some serious work ahead, I'd advise coming here during Leave and other free time to work out. By the end of it, you should be able to sprint the mile in under four minutes."

Hayley almost gulped, and Ahsoka looked at the group. "Alright, I have an idea of your running ability, now, let's see strength."

And so the rest of the day continued, various tests of strength, agility, endurance, and similar. Coric and a few others who were serious about the army did well, while some others were lagging far behind… Coric also overheard a few curses muttered under the breathes of those he liked to call the "High Maintenance" group (due to their 'high maintenance' attitude) about how Ahsoka was going 'overkill on day one.'

Finally, as the day ended, Ahsoka nodded. "Alright then, dinner is in about… ten minutes. That's it for the day, but I expect you to use your off-time well, it's going to become precious later on. Dismissed."

With that, the group left, some holding limbs strained by the 'workout', others as if they had an easy day.

Entering the mess hall, Coric and Warren got their food (which, to the surprise of some, was basic military rations, but well cooked by a man (or woman) who loved his/her crafted). They sat down towards one of the corners, next to each other.

"So," Warren said, "You know the Commander, eh?"

"Since thirteen," Coric answered, "She was always busy before that, so I never saw her, even if she is by 'adopted sister' because of what dad did back in 2030."

"Well, when the tales said "exotic beauty", they weren't kidding… and how old is she at this point?"

"At least forty."

"She definitely doesn't look it. Hell, I'd almost say she's still in her prime years."

"Well," said one of the burlier trainees, a young man named Bert, who sat down near them, "You ask me, we're getting the bottom of the barrel. Come on, that was our first day?"

"Easy Bert," Warren chimed in, "I think she made it clear that today was getting an idea of where we are."

"Doesn't matter where we are," Bert retorted, "we aren't going to become good soldiers by customizing training regiments, that leads to laziness, and that makes you _dead_. Besides, they put us with the _shiner_ trainer, so obviously they don't expect much out of us, did you see those little partygoers? How serious is GDI if they let them into the ranks?"

"You, of all people," Coric answered in a cold, deadpan voice, "know about how it's almost a crime not to have someone military in the family… I think some of them got the short straw, if you know what I mean. But Commander Tano," Coric made a point by using Ahsoka's rank, and not her name, "has a way with finding the outcasts and getting them on course."

"Whatever," Bert said, taking a bite out of his sandwich, "When they're crying for help in the field, I'm leaving them. They do more harm to us then they do to ECG or shiners."

"Hey, we don't leave our own behind, and the Forgotten aren't our enemies." Warren said, "So can you cut the depositories?"

"Make me."

"Easy Warren," Coric said, "He isn't worth it."

"Oh, it's worth it," Bert said tauntingly, "What? Your little shiner friends not want you to dirty yourself, or are you just a _coward?_ How would your uncle, the **famed** Nick Seymour "Havoc" Parker, react to that?"

"I respect him greatly," Warren coldly answered, "And while I'd love to wipe your smirk all over the floor, Coric's right, you're not worth it."

"Bah." Bert got up and left roughly, shoving Coric into Warren, but neither of them budged.

"Honestly," Coric said, sliding back to his spot, "Why is it that everyone hates the Forgotten? What did they do to us, besides the ones that are actually attacking us?"

"Nothing," Warren answered, sighing, "It really doesn't make sense why people are treating them like savages… do they really need to say 'hey, I'm not a Forgotten, I'm better then somebody' or something like that? Really, there's no logic in it."

"Well, we'll just have to do the right thing, won't we?"

"Agreed." Warren pulled out a small metallic object, which Coric recognized as a standard GDI handheld, which basically was an EVA connection without EVA functions, and quite limited in power, often given to trainees so they can access the EVA database, or what they're allowed to access.

"What're you looking for?" Coric asked, glancing over.

"Info on the Commander, something about her history."

"I already told you, my dad adopted her back in 2030 when he found her in a Yellow Zone, and dad joined the Talons in 2032 and she followed a few years later once she was old enough."

"There's something more," Warren said, "I don't know how to explain it… a hunch, a funny feeling. Something I can't shake off… there's never been a record of mutations like hers, well, unless you count a Visceroid, but those things are mindless, and she doesn't strike me as such."

"It was a weird strain of Tib, probably only had partial Visceroid-like effects."

"No, her skin isn't hard; it's smooth, hell, flawless... does she even have hair, thinking about it, it doesn't look like there's even any growing, now or before… And those white facial patterns; those aren't of any culture we've studied, you know that, never mind those head-tail whatever-they're-called, the _three_ of them she has."

"I know, but it wasn't exactly her choice for those features."

"Well, there's a lot more to her then they say, and I intend to find out what, I don't like it… and well, to tell the truth, I have a bad feeling about this."

Coric sighed, whenever Warren had a bad feeling, it tended to be justified, somehow. Coric knew that it was justified as she was, technically, under a forged ID (but then again, so did Rex, but almost all the GDI Generals besides Riggs, Locke, and Nagama knew). "Alright. Well, if you find anything I don't know, could you let me know?"

"Sure thing."

Relieved, Coric turned back to his dinner. He hated lying to Warren, but Ahsoka could tell him when she was ready… if she ever was. He then heard some footsteps behind him, and turned around. A tall, Australian man with blond hair was behind him, in what seemed to be a re-dyed uniform of non-GDI origins.

"You two trainees Coric and Warren?"

"Yes." Warren answered.

"Good, come with me please… you can bring your dinner, but it'll only take a minute."

Nodding, they picked up the small trays and followed him, no one noticing them leave. The man led them down a few corridors and into a small room. From what his parents had told him, it looked like a customized InOps office.

"Alright, have a seat," the man casually said, gesturing to two chairs next to his desk. They sat down.

"Name's Ajay, by the way. I overheard you asking about the Commander. Well, she isn't technically a 'Commander' anymore 'cause Rios went nuts about the Commander defending some Forgotten down in Rio."

Warren raised an eyebrow, "I saw the footage, and that's what kicked my alarm bells off, if you know what I mean."

"Don't blame you, raised bloody hell in InOps, and they came for me. Lightning, they knew she could do, hell; she redirected some of that shit back at the aliens in Berne, back during Tib War Three. Thing is, I wanted to tell you two… don't go looking into her, please. You'll attract the wrong kind of attention… I don't know if you two know, but GDI is… changing, and not for the best. Yeah, there's certainly been improvements, but the military state suddenly being civilian hasn't exactly gone well… Rios didn't prepare for GDI soldiers being unused to civilian oversight, especially _inexperienced_ civilian oversight."

In the back of Coric's mind, the letter he received from his mother (which had to be personally delivered by an anonymous member of InOps who was friendly with her) mentioned a Commander Shou who had taken over the Pacific Hub, and was treating her and generally the soldiers there (whom were under Ahsoka's command, and she was just as loyal to them as they were to her) poorly. Rex was looking into it, but Shou had used his political connections to shut down any investigation, and even called Rex 'emotionally involved' and 'clouded in judgment', calls which stuck, leaving only McNeil to investigate (and he was blocked by his duties with RAID).

"So what you're saying," Warren said, narrowing his eyebrows, "is to forget investigating her or looking up more information?"

"Yes, _especially_ her history. Look, if she wants to tell you, she will. But details are a personal matter for her, and I'm sure Coric knows that well. Listen to him, please."

Coric noted the 'please' part… it wasn't an order, it could have been easily if this Ajay was who Coric thought he was, but he made it a request. Warren then glanced into the corner, as if he saw something.

"Something wrong?" Ajay asked, and Coric could hear an ever so slight increase to the height of his voice.

"No… nothing."

"So, will you stop investigating?"

Warren nodded, "Alright, I'll stop investigating, but I'm still keeping my ears open."

"All I can ask I guess. Now, you two should probably head back. If anyone asks, tell them that I was confirming which GDI division… actually, which GDI divisions _do_ you two intend to join?"

"GDI mainline, Zone Troopers," they both said automatically, that was their intent.

"Right, thanks. Speaking of which, pass it through the barracks for me, tell them to start considering what they want to do, they've already chosen infantry, but they haven't specified what group."

"Will do… sir." Coric said, and Ajay gestured them out of his office.

"Interesting character," Warren said once they were out of earshot, "You know him?"

"I think so… he had to hand-deliver a message from my mother to avoid a pretty bad GDI commander from using his censoring power on the whole things… these are personal letters he's blacking out entirely too."

"Jeez," Warren said, "That's pretty corrupt, it's not like she's spilling out operational secrets, is she? Personal letters _rarely_ have much beyond what's already known publically or a little story that wouldn't break security."

"Yeah… turns out that he's strict on censorship due to the 'sensitivity of the base's security'… most of the soldiers don't get mail or are able to send mail… and these are some of GDI's best soldiers, a lot of them with worried families."

Warren scowled, "That's blatant abuse of power."

"And for politicians," Coric said as they re-entered the mess hall, "that's just covering their sorry asses."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks for the help Ajay," Ahsoka said, stepping out of the corner as she sensed Coric and Warren reenter the mess hall.

"I'm surprised; Warren looked right at you as if he knew you were there." Ajay said, looking at her, almost worried. "I'd say make him a Ranger if he saw or heard you, that kid's got the senses."

"No… I think there's something more to Warren then just unusually acute senses." Ahsoka said, closing her eyes. Indeed, she had sensed something different in Warren… almost Force Sensitive. "He _might_ have some potential for something along my lines of combat ability… but I doubt it. But, he's related to Havoc, right?"

"He is."

"Well, assuming it runs in the family, that'd explain why Havoc was able to dodge bullets and lasers… well, move before they were fired. He might be Commando material; we'll see when he's older."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Three Days Later**

**January 9****th****, 2065**

**GDI Training Center**

**London, UK**

**Blue Zone**

Coric reloaded his bolt-action Rail Gun rifle and fired another shot into the range, aiming for a Nod _Avenger_ tank printout at the exact other end of the massive range. The almost plasma-hot bullet sped down the range and struck the target in the barrel, knocking it off… while if it was actually armored it would of easily disrupted the tank's firing process', replaceable and reforgable foam cutouts were not so armored.

"Good shot," Warren said, matching it, except on the printout for a Scrin Gun Walker. "And this is just basics."

They were, after some conditioning, finally working with actual weaponry, but Ahsoka had a difference in the training regiment from most: No power armor until they had learned how to fight _without_ it. Some had complained, saying they 'would never be out of it on the field'. Ahsoka's answer had been simple: Surprise attacks never let you get ready, and it was her job to ready them as much as training could do.

Glancing down the range, he saw Bert doing brilliantly himself. Although he wasn't going for the Zone Troopers, instead intending to be an Enforcer, he still had to complete basic rifle training, which was covered by Zone Troopers. Ahsoka was busy helping Hayley understand how to use a targeting sight… and it wasn't going so well at the moment.

"OK Warren," Coric said as he reloaded, "Pop me a surprise."

Warren tapped something into the miniature computer (which set targets to shoot at for each individual range), and down in Coric's range appeared a black cut out off…

An Awakened cyborg, at the end of the range. Coric aimed with the sight, and fired. The blue beam of energy sped down the range and hit the cutout in the head, blowing a smoking hole into it.

"Great shot," Warren said, "Alright, you do the same more me."

Coric nodded, putting his Rail Gun on the side (safety on, of course), and considered what to give Warren.

_Ah… I know._

He tapped it in, and Warren got a headshot on…

The cutout for a Scrin heavy infantry unit, a Shock Trooper. Unlike most, the insect-like Shock infantry had their heads at a lower plane, most soldiers wound up hitting the oversized carapaces.

"Interesting choice of a target," commented one of the women nearby, "You two sure know your stuff."

"We try, Vicky." Warren said, reloading. "So what are you considering for specialization?"

"Defender, of course." She responded, before turning back to her range, "Not quite up to a Raider."

XXXXXXXXXX

**Two Weeks Later**

**January 23****rd****, 2065**

**GDI Training Center**

**London, UK**

**Blue Zone**

Over the last two weeks, Ahsoka had put them all through the mill, and they were finally about to begin Zone Armor training.

Coric slipped the legs on, wobbling slightly as he adjusted to the oversized legs, then pulled the arms on with a little help from Warren (whom Coric had already helped in getting his armor on), and then the back and front plates were put on, and joined together, forming the torso armor. All that was left to put on was the helmet, which Coric slipped on.

"**Power Suit Activated"**

This was the readout for his armor as it turned on, the hum of electricity singing in Coric's ear. He took several steps, to make sure he had his balance. He did, now that he had the full suit on.

Ahsoka walked into the armory where everyone was, clad in GDI's olive colored skin-tight bodysuits, suiting up into their Zone Armor, sans weapons at the moment, which would be attached later. For now, they were adjusting to the Zone Armor so they'd be able to use it effectively with a weapon.

"Everyone ready?" Ahsoka asked, looking them over.

A chorus of affirmatives as the last few trainees closed the seals on their helmets.

"Follow me then."

She led them to the training center's helipads, where several Harrier gunships were landed.

"Alright, split into your squads." Ahsoka ordered, and they split into their squads of eleven, and each got into a single gunship. Coric checked his squad, he was one of four chosen for leadership due to their advanced skill, but it was also doubling as a test to see _who_ is a leader, at least minorly. Warren was on another Harrier, himself a squad leader.

Ahsoka walked onto the Harrier, and said, "Alright pilot, let's go. Shut the bay doors, none of them have jump jets."

The doors closed and Coric felt himself shake as the Harrier took off.

"Alright squad, check in."

He got ten affirmatives, and he nodded to Ahsoka, who was listening to roll call from the other squad officers.

"Alright trainees," Ahsoka said into her wrist EVA, which had communication capabilities, like all EVA units, "This is going to be some field work, about a mile jog in the armor to get used to the added bulk, then weapons training. We'll be coming all the way out here every day, so I'd advise packing field rations."

Coric was glad he had the foresight to pack some extras; he knew at least one person hadn't read all GDI Rules and Regulations.

The Harriers touched down and the cargo bays opened. Coric walked out, as did the others, glad to be out of the cramped transport, and began stretching as they could in armor.

After everyone assembled, including the four squad leaders, Coric, Warren, Bert, and Vikki, and Ahsoka nodded, "Follow me." With that, she took off at a surprising pace for a jog, and the others followed behind, quickly realizing that the armor supported their speed, and fell into formation with a little elbow grease and adjustment to their strides.

Finally, they reached the range, where several engineers (who looked like trainees themselves) were busy preparing various weapons, from Rail Gun rifles to _Enforcer_-class machine guns.

"Finally," Bert said, unaffected by the run, "We're getting our guns."

"Patience," Ahsoka said, "You'll get 'em soon enough."

The lead engineer nodded, "Alright, order of outfitting is Troopers, Defenders, and Enforcers. No Raiders, Commander?"

"As usual, Sergeant Hawkins is pretty strict about, quote, 'no shiners teaching Raiders'."

Indeed, three women were missing from Warren's squad, as those three had chosen to become Zone Raiders, and thus had to be pulled for more advanced training, as Raiders were now covering the role of semi-special forces and (counter) guerilla warfare.

"Sucks for her, Commander." The lead engineer responded, "Alright, Troopers, one at a time get your Rail Gun rifles from the rack… there you go. These are bigger and tap into your suit's power, here's how to connect and disconnect." With that, he began showing them how they connected a plug into their gauntlets along their wrist, which had two effects: One, improved power for use as it'd use the armor's auxiliary power, and second, harder to disarm. Coric noted however, when he checked the charge, that the weapons were at an unchangeable stun setting, and he didn't need telling twice why: With certain characters in there, accidents were common. He glanced over, the Defenders were getting their rocket launchers, but he had a striking feeling they were using dummy rounds until they were confident they could use actual explosives in a live fire exercise… usually after a lot of simulator work.

After an hour of using them in the range and making sure they were confident, Ahsoka informed them that, as with the armor, the weapons would be their responsibility and, quite possibly, what they wield for the rest of their careers. An officer arrived in a Talon, except it had no rocket launchers and seemed to be like the old army Humvees for officers to drive.

"This is Captain Goodvalor," Ahsoka said, gesturing to him, "He takes a _personal_ interest in weaponry… so expect to get a detailed instruction of maintaining your weaponry, stuff that most officers and soldiers tend to forget in the field."

Goodvalor almost sneered at Ahsoka, and gave a dismissive gesture. Ahsoka stood to the side, grabbing one of the available rifles and taking some practice shots while Goodvalor began detailing to them on weaponry maintaining and repair.

Coric already knew most of it, but he paid attention anyways, surprising Goodvalor with how much he already knew.

"You're pretty good at cleaning a gun, trooper." Goodvalor said, as if shocked that he already knew or was learning fast.

"Thank you sir." Coric responded.

"That wasn't a compliment. Who taught you?"

"My father, sir."

"So, General Rex thinks he knows how to clean guns huh? I don't see him in the field anymore. Haven't seen him since he took a desk job after Tib War Three."

Ahsoka evidently heard that, as she stopped shooting at the rapid succession of targets down the range.

Goodvalor continued, "Look here, little lady," (Coric wondered for a moment why Goodvalor was mixing his sexuality up, even wondering if he was blind,) "I don't care if your dad was the fricken GDI Director for over two decades straight, you're learning how to clean your weapon, and I expect you to learn. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." Coric responded, grinding his teeth to bite back the wide array of retorts that were itching to be used. _Well, that's not conductive of a good military, even if the superior officers are assholes. Seriously hope he enjoys it while he can, something tells me it's going to come around and shoot him in the face._

"Now, let's continue." With that, Goodvalor finished with him, taking sadistic pleasure in even the smallest thing, a molecule of dust from the common air humanity breathes, one finger off… it was as if he was trying to make Coric break regulations.

Finally, seeing that his bullying target wasn't responding, Goodvalor gave up and moved onto the Enforcers, helping them with hefting their machine guns.

"What a jerk," Warren muttered, over a private channel to Coric.

"Agreed, but let's keep the personal comments for mess hall, I think he's listening in."

Goodvalor didn't turn around, so evidently he missed it, wasn't able to listen to them, or didn't care. Coric hoped for the middle.

The rest of the day, and the days after, were focused on more targeting and weaponry, getting all of them familiar with their weapons of choice. Goodvalor rarely showed up, fortunately.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**January 30****th****, 2065**

**Pacific Hub**

**Guam**

**GDI Base**

**Blue Zone**

"Captain! What's the meaning of mutants attacking our perimeter? That was _your_ responsibility." Shou shouted angrily, yet again taking a pair of bandits made a move on the small harbor that had been set up, which had been dealt with properly and swiftly, no damage done, but Shou took every minor infraction (real or imagined) on part of the Taskforce, or what he saw as one, as a personal insult of great heights.

"Commander, as the report filed, there was _no_ damage done and they were taken down before they breached our perimeter properly." Sarah responded coolly, knowing quite well that Shou had been blocking all personal messages and generally isolating the Taskforce soldiers from the rest of the Firestorm Taskforce and other friendly units, such as the Steel Talons. He was even going as far as to block familial letters. A small protest against such treatment had already been filed in a mass petition, to which Shou responded, "The security of the TCN is critical, hence the advanced security measures." He didn't get good press, and he had ordered all news channel links cut… If he kept it up, his small personal guard would be hard pressed to maintain his overdosed and beyond regulation discipline amongst the Taskforce, in fact, it was already near impossible. Several of Shou's personal soldiers had already suffered minor pranks, mostly 'Kick Me' signs on the back (one soldier even went as far as to pin 'Nod Parawhore In Disguise' on the back of Shou's Zone Defender in the area).

"I don't care, Captain. If a mutant even gets one shot off at us, it's a sign that we are _spineless_."

Sarah was appalled, one bullet and they're spineless? More like one bullet and they're aiming ionized plasma at the shooter's face. "With _respect_, Commander, the Pacific Hub is as secure as we can have it given our forces. If you wish it to be more secure, we will need more men. Unfortunately, according to the latest reports, none are available."

"Then _make_ some available. There's a mutant dump on a nearby island, _draft_ them into our work force so we can focus our soldiers in military instead of having to rotate some of them to building this thing."

In other words, _enslave_ the mutant refugees.

"Commander," Sarah said, dropping the façade of diplomatic politeness and taking on a serious tone, "GDI does not enslave civilians. We will establish contact with them and offer them work in exchange for, most likely, food and protection, but potentially money if they chose, and establish a civilian contract. Otherwise, we won't force them."

"Excuse me?!" Shou shouted, standing up, "Did you just tell me that you will _not_ obey orders?!"

Sarah simply recited: "GDI Regulations, Page Seventeen, Section Five, Paragraph Four, Quote: "_GDI shall never, under any circumstance, for any reason, no matter the justification, call for forced labor of civilians. They may be asked to volunteer or offered paying work, but they cannot be forced. Said civilians are to provide signature on a contract, after being told the full details and understanding it fully. Amendment: When __**Guardian Angel**__ is in activation, a GDI commander may authorize forced civilian labor, but they are to keep them far away from combat and arrange for reparations to them or their next-of-kin at a later date when resources are available for such. The reparations must be done within a month of the end of the __**Guardian Angel**__ protocol activation cycle._ End quote."

Shou was almost surprised at her near photographic memory, and she continued, "What you are suggesting constitutes forced civilian labor without reparation, and forcing it without reparation _without_ the _Guardian Angel _protocol in effect, thus, I have to _respectfully_ decline these orders, unless you wish to modify them to fit GDI Regulations."

"Captain, you are relived of duty." Shou finally said, "You are confined to quarters and are to turn in your armor and weapons and await Court Marshall."

"I'm afraid that I cannot comply on the armor, _sir_, due to my _cybernetics_ being directly wired into them. I will, of course, hand in my weaponry, and the weapons modules in the armor are removable." She readied herself for the firestorm she knew was going to follow this revelation once it registered in Shou's brain… and would, if he reacted as she thought he might, have him order something that GDI regulations forbid.

"What?! You're a CYBORG?! GUARDS! KILL HER!"

Sarah was already reacting, rolling to the right as the door burst open. She fired a wrist rocket at the top of the door, sending the two Zone Trooper guards to the ground, stunned, but not dead, and she jump jetted past. Her GD-10 was still attached to her Jump Jet, she grabbed it and set it to stun. She wasn't killing anyone if she didn't have to.

"_Attention, all GDI forces. Sarah Granger is to be shot on sight, kill the cyborg and you will receive a promotion or pay raise, as proper."_ Shou said over the intercom, and Sarah knew he just broke a dozen or so regulations. Two of the Taskforce's Zone Troopers saw her, and almost fired.

"Get out of here Captain!" shouted a Trooper, "You know the drill."

"Thanks." With that, Sarah sprinted for the motor pool, intending to commandeer a Talon hovercraft until she could reach the nearest Steel Talon position, a small outpost on a nearby island that doubled as a lookout and listening post in the Pacific… as well as housing a minor TCN node.

She reached the motor pool where a pair of Shou's personal troopers were, a Zone Trooper and a Zone Defender, and the Defender shouted first, "Hey! It's the cyborg! KILL HER!"

Sarah jump jetted over the fence, landing atop the Defender as she tried to fire rockets. Sarah shot several stun rounds into the Trooper, knocking him cold, and sprinted again, entering the motor pool itself and almost ripping the canopy of a Talon open, leaping inside, and turning it on. The Talon sprang to life and she drove it towards the cliff, and sent it over.

The secondary engines kicked in as she reached the water level, stopping it from crashing, and after a brief slowdown to readjust, it sped north, carrying Sarah out as several Rail Gun rounds exploded nearby in the water, missing.

_Well,_ Sarah thought, _Looks like Shou just set off something he shouldn't of._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**February 1****st****, 2065**

**GDI Training Center**

**London, UK**

**Blue Zone**

**1:30 AM**

They came at night. Coric was woken suddenly by two black clad men in power armor, Zone Armor, and instructed to get up, as was Warren. They were lead outside and stuffed onto a truck… Ahsoka and Ajay were there too. All four of them were gagged.

"Alright maggots," the lead officer said, "Hope you're ready for some _madness_, you're all under arrest for suspected connection to cybernetics within GDI and the escape of the cyborg savage known once as Sarah Granger."

_What?!_ Coric thought, almost shouting that, but he was gagged. The black clad soldiers laughed as they drove the truck to the helipads and loaded them onto a Harrier.

"Should we keep an eye on them?" asked one of the soldiers as they were stuffed into the back, bound.

"Nah, they can't do anything. Seal the door, even if one breaks out, the Hurricane escort can mow 'em up."

"Suits me."

With that, the door shut… and they inadvertently soundproofed the hold, from inside to out, but not the reverse. They would be able to talk undisturbed. Ahsoka closed her eyes, and Coric felt his binding loosen, and he pulled it off, helping the others with theirs.

"What the hell is going on?" Ajay finally asked, "Did Shou order Sarah's execution because she was a _victim_?"

"Probably," Ahsoka answered, "Wish he didn't bring you two in," she looked at Coric and Warren, "I don't get why they're after you Warren, but you must of raised flags by virtue of being Coric's best friend."

"Who are those guys? I've never seen such an insignia before." Warren said, fearful.

"Those are… honestly, I don't know. All I know is that they ambushed your mother, Coric, as well as myself down in Russia, and launched an attack on Rio de Janeiro, targeting civilians." Ahsoka answered honestly.

"We think they're Rios' personal anti-mutant militia, but all we know is that they seem to have GDI gear," Ajay continued, "and are working against the Taskforce and the Forgotten for God knows what. I think they've seen us as a threat now, and intend to cut off the Taskforce's head."

"What about Lilly, and Dad?" Coric asked, "Or Gen Granger or Havoc, or Warren's family?"

"I don't know," Ahsoka said, closing her eyes sadly, "But… I can sense a firefight down in Havoc Square, where your family lives, Warren… I think Havoc is giving his typically brutal answer."

Warren nodded, relieved. "He'll beat them all; these guys aren't GDI soldiers, so he won't recognize them as friendlies, even if they falsely ID themselves as GDI."

"I doubt you have to worry about your father," Ahsoka said to Coric, "Given he's a prominent GDI general, and he hasn't been in much contact with your mother due to Shou's censoring, he can't be legally targeted… of course, if they do target him, I have a feeling that he'll get the upper hand quickly. It also helps that right now, he's in transit to Hammerfest for a Generals' meeting."

"Question is; where are we going?" Ajay asked, "I can't link up to the Taskforce, and I was barely able to lockdown my computer access to our EVA."

"I wish I knew," Ahsoka said, "But Corporal Tim knows how to cut off you link entirely if necessary, after all, he helped designed it. They won't be able to learn of our plans, even if they take your computer away to some obscure location."

Ajay nodded, "So, is this the break?"

"I hope not, GDI needs every hand and can't afford a civil war. We need to stop this madness before it claims GDI as a whole… if this is in fact an under the table mission, we need to expose it."

Coric nodded, "Once the media knows, they'll have a field day and GDI can't censor something like that without becoming what it opposes."

"The question is," Ajay said grimly, "Is has it already fallen?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Steel Talon Outpost**

**Pacific Ocean**

**Four Miles North of Guam**

**Yellow Zone**

Sarah drove the Talon onto the beach, and was relived to see the Talon's Zone Troopers and Raider coming out to greet her.

"Captain Granger," nodded the Zone Raider, "We heard you were coming."

"Sorry about the rough entrance, Shou broke about a dozen regulations."

"No…" the Raider said, then suddenly, the Troopers barreled into Sarah, knocking her to the ground and pinning her… even she wasn't strong enough to throw a ton-weighing Zone Trooper off with one limb, even with power armor and cybernetics. "I think you will find that the _Blackguards_ are not as lenient as the weaker GDI leadership was, especially to _freaks_ like you, bitch." With that, she punched Sarah in the gut, hard enough to leave a dent in the armor and knock the wind out of her. "Throw her into the transport, we take her to Leonidas."

_What is going on here?!_ Sarah wondered as she was clammed down to dozens of industrial-strength bars on a slab of Mammoth Tank grade metal and loaded onto the parked Harrier.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**February 2****nd****, 2065**

**The 300 Supermax Facility**

**Sparta, Greece**

**Blue Zone**

"Sarah!" Ahsoka shouted as she was thrown into the dudgeon like room that they had been put into. All of them were clad in the beige prison outfits, though Sarah simply had it thrown over her Zone Armor as they hadn't been able to disable any part of it besides removing the weapons.

"Ahsoka! What's going on?!"

"That's what I'd like to know," said Warren, irritated.

Ahsoka looked at them, sighing, "I don't know. It may be a coup and we were at the wrong place… but this is a GDI facility, one of our Supermax facilities… we're maximum threat 'criminals' now."

"Well," Ajay said, "I've been on this side before, captured for like, two days in 2044 when I was in an anti-GDI protest. Riggs, then a captain, had us all thrown in a local jail until we 'cooled off'… the food sucks, and it hasn't improved."

A small flap opened, and several trays were sent in, all of them having what looked to be moldy bread and a single bottle of water for them all to share.

"**Breakfast."** said an EVA unit from an overhead speaker.

"Yep," Ajay said as he looked at the food, "The usual crap bread and not enough water for us all to keep hydrated…"

"Good news, I don't need much, I ate on the thirtieth, so I shouldn't need anything for another day at least." Sarah explained, to which Warren raised an eyebrow. "Cybernetics, a lot of it is intertwined with my digestive system, and can make even one bite last more then usual… a lot more."

"That's… interesting." Warren said, diplomatically. "Well, we have one problem, if we're staying gentlemen, that is… no bathroom."

Ahsoka gestured a corner, where there was a small opening for a pipe, "That's basically it… and it doesn't flush until they clean the system, which… happens every few days if we're lucky."

Silence prevailed… then Coric asked, "So, what's this place? Any local history?"

"Yeah," Ajay answered, "GDI 300 Supermax, obviously named after Leonidas' 300… actually, the local Commander is said to be named Leonidas, though I can't confirm that. It's supposed to be our least used Supermax facility, it's more of a resupply point for our forces heading to the front then anything, so no one is likely to notice us here."

"Great." Warren commented, "So what happens to us now? We all have duties to get back to."

"First," Ahsoka said, "We need to get a message out, and I have an idea… Sarah, you still have your transmitter?"

"Integrated as usual, they can't remove it without executing me." Sarah responded.

"Good, put all the power you can spare into it and send a message to _Resolute_, 7657."

Sarah nodded as she activated a small transmitter, which came out next to where her Jump Jet would have been connected to her armor if she still had it.

"Alright, sent." Sarah said, "So, the plan?"

"Find out more, then plan a bust out. Second-Four will be busy at _Resolute_ to ready the Taskforce if necessary… and knowing him; he'll try and get us some help in here."

"Just glad they don't bother with cameras," Ajay said, "They only put them at the end of the halls, and yes, I've swept wholly." One of Ajay's skills was disabling cameras… he was surprisingly good at it, and he could even disable the world's smallest without suspicion… and find it.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Nod Research Base**

**Codename: **_**Crusader's Rest Actual**_

**Cairo, Egypt**

**Blue Zone**

"Insurgent," LEGION said, "We have word that GDI Commander Ahsoka Tano, Captain Sarah Granger, Lieutenant Ajay, and Trainees Coric Granger and Warren Parker are being held at GDI 300 Supermax Facility in Sparta, Greece."

The Insurgent nodded, thinking. "Prepare a surveillance team and have several burrowed Avenger teams on standby. Contact Kane." She preferred to just be called "Insurgent" or "Legendary Insurgent", enjoying the title and it's implications to GDI. Her brown hair was worn in a pony tail, which went well with her simple beret, a gift from Oxanna Kristos back when she lead the Black Hand, as she had no more use for the relic, and wanted it safe in the hands of another 'proud, strong Nod woman.'

Kane appeared after a minute, and nodded, "Insurgent."

"Kane, it seems that GDI has arrested the Taskforce's leadership, and holding them in the 300 Supermax Facility. I am stationing several burrowed teams on standby if necessary."

"Good. The 300 facility is held by these mysterious 'Blackguards'… they may or may not be proper GDI, but they will use GDI equipment to make them _seem_ GDI, a lesson they took from us, as you recall."

Indeed, she did recall, capturing a small GDI outpost so they could use it to frame GDI for killing civilians in the aftermath of the Third Tiberium War. She held no regrets on that. "I assume then that we are allowed to act against such?"

"No, not yet. An Alliance Council meeting is tomorrow, General Riggs may wish to deploy GDI to respond… dig up what you can."

"LEGION?"

"Commencing hack of 300 Supermax Facility… cannot comply, 300 Supermax Facility protected from exterior hacking with the latest Alliance anti-hack technology. Attempted bypass has failed due to retrofitting on part of these Blackguards. However, system can be breached if we move an uplink remote into range. Equipping an Avenger tank with such."

The Insurgent nodded, "Very well, LEGION. Move the tanks into position, but do not reveal them and keep them out of pulse scanner range. Move one Avenger into position and make it look like an off duty tank crew having some recreation and exploring the Spartan countryside."

"Of course."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**February 3****rd****, 2065**

**GDI 300 Supermax Facility**

**Sparta, Greece**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka looked up as the cell door opened, a dozen black-clad soldiers standing there.

"Only the cyborg, stand up." Said an officer, "It's time to die, bitch."

Ahsoka gave a brief nod to Coric, Warren, and Ajay. They knew to let Ahsoka and Sarah do the fighting if it came to it… Ahsoka would be able to use the Force to great effect, while Sarah's power armor would allow her to take some hits and fight the power armored soldiers.

"Unfortunately, I have other things in mind," Sarah said, before decking the officer in the face, hard enough that she broke his faceplate and easily his skull. Ahsoka then Force pushed the other eleven guards down, and began arcing electricity, and electrocuted them as they were struggling to untangle themselves.

"Grab the guns," Ahsoka said, heading forward and grabbing a Rail Gun from one of the soldiers, checking the charge. "Alright, first stop, armory, they have my lightsaber and Zone Armor there."

"Agreed," Warren said, "If we're breaking out, let's have the gear to do it."

They rushed forward, coming to a new floor… and Ahsoka was shocked to see the cells: Mutants, various members, and almost all of them Forgotten, and _civilians_.

"Help us!" said one of them, an old man who looked skeletal.

"We have to help them," Ahsoka said, resolute, "Ajay?"

"On it, it'll take me a while though, and they'll have the alarms… I'd suggest you get to that armory Ahsoka!"

Ahsoka nodded, "Sarah, keep them safe." With that, leaving them to cover Ajay while be picked the locks best he could, she sprinted out and up another flight of stairs, using Force lightning in small, controlled sprays to keep guards down. She had the strength, and now it was time for justice.

Entering the armory (which was conveniently next to the prison cells), Ahsoka grabbed her lightsaber (which was in a display case), and noticed an office next to it. She opened the door, igniting her lightsaber.

A hologram of a black-clad officer was there. "Tsk tsk." He said, shaking his head, "Breaking out of jail? You proved your guilt."

"Not really, kid," Ahsoka said, before cutting the holotransmitter in half. She grabbed several rifles, slinging them over her shoulder, and rushed down to the cells. "Ajay, get these to those who can use them."

Ajay nodded, and Ahsoka began cutting the locks one by one, "Armory is up here, Zone armor for those who can use it."

A number of stronger mutants took the Rail Guns that Ahsoka provided… suddenly, the EVA unit blared out,

"**All units on high alert, prison break in coordination with Nod and False GDI attacks!"**

"Sounds like we woke something up!" Warren shouted as they reached the armory and he began activating Zone Armor for himself and Coric to use (as they were the only ones who knew _how_ and needed it).

The mutants began grabbing various other rifles, a number of them choosing Zone Enforcer machine guns. One of the mutants said, "Time to get some payback against these so-called 'Blackguards.'"

Ahsoka nodded, "Just check your fire, I think Firestorm Taskforce soldiers are coming in to help. Nod too."

They began their breakout, blasting through surprised Blackguards (all clad in GDI Zone Armor colored pitch black) and broke out, to see Nod _Avenger_ tanks dueling Sheppard tanks, while Taskforce Zone Troopers, Enforcers, and Defenders quickly neutralized the hostile Blackguards and secured the facility. A Zone Ranger came into view, and he was pulling a very pissed looking Blackguard officer.

"Commander," McCarthy said, saluting with his free hand, "I present to you 'Captain Leonidas', the leader of this division of the 'Blackguards of Earth', as they're called."

"Bah, what do you want, shiner?" the officer, 'Leonidas', said.

"Lock him up," Ahsoka said, and two Zone Troopers took Leonidas away, "What's the situation?"

"First, here's some new EVA units, with a LEGION uplink since Nod's with us." McCarthy said, handing the five some wrist EVA units. "Second, the Blackguards are mobilizing, as are anti-mutant rioters. The Blackguards are providing them with GDI weaponry, and they're also bringing in large numbers of Predator Tanks, as we've just scrapped their Sheppards. We won't be able to escape however, they revealed hidden anti-aircraft and artillery batteries, and Nod burrowing tech isn't able to carry us all out."

A hologram suddenly appeared on the wrist EVA units… a Nod woman clad in a fine, black uniform with a black beret.

"I am the Legendary Insurgent," she introduced, "These Blackguards are a threat to the Alliance, and Kane has ordered them dealt with before they jeopardize it further. Their commandeering of a GDI position will not go unpunished. Reinforcements are en route, but they will take some time. Rios is blocking GDI support despite protests of all the Generals except Riggs. However, the GDI military is almost going rogue, due to the fact that, as far as can be told, Rios has allowed a non-GDI force to use GDI military equipment for paramilitary actions against GDI military officers. This should dent her enough politically that the Council will grant more GDI aid, but until then, all GDI military assets are frozen from aid. Engineers from Nod are en route to assist and will be there shortly. I believe Captain McCarthy already brought an engineering team as well."

"That's correct," McCarthy said, "which is why we took no casualties, those Gizmo repair beams are brilliant."

Ahsoka nodded, "We can make due. How bad are the numbers?"

"Very bad," McCarthy said, "But we have a fortified position. The enemy is coming at us in large numbers, a considerable number of tanks, mostly older ones, but they're coming… we don't have the armor for a direct confrontation, and there is only one way into the facility."

"Let's dig in and see what we have."

As they looked around, Ahsoka noted a lot of excess tank treads, and a large number of unused Guardian cannon turrets…

"Ajay, do you think that, if we hooked those Guardian cannons to the excess tank chassis's, that we can make an AI controlled tank?"

"Easily," Ajay said, "But I doubt it'll work."

"We need something to match the incoming tanks," Ahsoka said, "I'll get the engineers over, let's get going."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**A Few Hours Later**

They had a large number of tank/turret vehicles… 30 of them, in fact.

"You know… I think that King Leonidas would be proud." Said a Greek engineer, "His Bold Three-Hundred, divided by ten, of course, are reborn to face an enemy worse than the Persians."

"Most things are," commented a Persian engineer, "But I understand the sentiment… invaders hardly look friendly, even after a thousand years."

Ahsoka nodded, she herself having assisted considerably in the rewiring. "Alright, my main concern is how well these will fight, the treads are liable to be blown off and leave the turrets well, turrets."

"That may be a boon," commented the Persian engineer, "If it can't move, it can't fall back, and will fight until destroyed… Ajay can handle it?"

"Yes," Ahsoka answered, "He's copying a hastily made IFF AI similar to our EVA unit and it's designated to target all Foes unless they are marked other. We aren't expecting any quarter, however."

"And unlikely to give any," commented Sarah, who just walked into the large, makeshift motor pool with her GD-10 in hand, "We might have a large tank army, but they're coming at us with enough force that these might not be enough. They're almost here, and they're sending a messenger ahead."

"Figures," Ahsoka said, "I'll take it personally. I assume we aren't surrendering?"

"Well, the Forgotten aren't, and unlike some people in GDI," Sarah commented, "we stand by our allies."

Ahsoka walked to the meeting place, a good hundred yards in front of the Supermax Facility, and saw a black-clad officer come up at the end of the hill, standing on it almost dramatically.

"Shiners! Traitors of humanity! Listen well! Surrender now, and have the Shiners put to death, and your treason against humanity will be forgiven, pending you fulfill a debt to human society! Chose now your option now, for there will be no quarter!"

Ahsoka nodded to Sarah, who shot a high-powered bolt from her GD-10. The blue bolt missed the messenger by a good few feet, but it was clear that they weren't _trying_ to shoot the messenger.

"Yeah, yeah," Ahsoka responded, shouting, "Move a little closer!"

"So be it!" shouted the messenger, "Doom is upon you!" With that, he ran off.

"Alright everyone, let's get the Spartans to position and give these stanging Blackguards their justice."

They waited, and sure enough, a large force, at least four hundred Zone armored infantry plus a tank division of 40, against the defending force of 200 mutants (with various stages of armor, due to the lack of fitting armor parts), 30 of the jury-rigged 'Spartan' tanks, and 12 Avenger tanks, plus the Taskforce team of 40 Zone infantry, varying in Defender, Enforcer, and Trooper. The Spartan Tanks were moved up alongside the Avengers, and various infantry manned barricades.

"Shiners! Lay down your weapons!" shouted an enemy officer at the fore.

"Blackguards!" Ahsoka responded, shouting and igniting her lightsaber, pointing it at them, "Come and get them!"

"AOOOOOO!" shouted one of the American Zone Troopers, and suddenly, all the Taskforce soldiers fired in near perfect unison, and a massive volley hit the initial enemy charge, blasting them backwards and even scrapping several of their Predator tanks.

And such was how the Battle of Sparta (TCN Conflict) began.

XXXXXXXX

Sarah opened fire, laying down GD-10 rounds at the advancing enemies, who were, with inaccuracy, firing while they charged. Coric was next to her in Zone Trooper armor, and she was proud to have him at her side. Laying down suppressive fire, she fired a grenade, blasting a pair of Blackguard Enforcers away and into their comrades, while Coric, with surprisingly crack accuracy for his age (a gift Sarah suspected he inherited from Rex), was hitting targets and hurting them considerably with his bolt-action Rail Gun rifle.

The Spartan tanks were, as Ahsoka predicted, having their treads blown apart, but it only seemed to strengthen the Spartans as they went from tank to turret, still firing, like King Leonidas and his Bold Three-Hundred, the Spartan Tanks were fighting tooth and nail, and although they were AI driven (and controlled by Ajay and several other engineers in the main building of the Supermax Facility), they fought as if they were crewed by fearless, selfless flesh and blood crews.

The Blackguards began to close and eliminate the Spartans, one by one, but were finding it increasingly difficult to do as they became a turret wall upon loss of their treads, becoming emplacements. Sarah switched settings on her GD-10, switching from high-number, lower power bursts and shooting heavier rounds. The Blackguards closed and attempted to breach, launching forward with infantry while the tanks battled the Spartans. Older, but still workable, Predator Tanks came in, trading salvos with the Spartans and Nod Avengers, the latter proving surprisingly superior to the Predator. Automated base defenses opened fire on the Blackguards, their IFF archives rectified by Ajay and other Taskforce engineers.

The Blackguards managed to get to the barricades and into them, beginning a melee fight. Sarah shot a pair of Blackguards leaping into her position, and then hurled a third out at his comrades while Coric, disarmed by a Blackguard, went hand-to-hand with the Blackguard and came out on top, subduing and killing him… Coric's first kill up close and personal.

"You alright Coric?" Sarah asked, now next to him again as they began fighting off more Blackguards coming in close and personal.

"I'm fine," Coric responded, before hurling a Blackguard into the one Sarah was fighting, knocking both down.

Suddenly, from behind the Blackguard lines, burrow drills erupted and Awakened cyborgs and Avenger tanks rolled out of the subterranean transports, and attacked the Blackguard's rear, but the battle still raged hot, the Forgotten allies of the Taskforce taking the unfortunate brunt due to their lack of Zone Armor (Which was due to their lack of ability to use the new armor).

Suddenly, Sarah heard supersonic thrusters… and she looked up.

_GDI_ Firehawks flew in, dropping out of the stratosphere, and began bombing the Blackguards; and a larger ship was coming down… McNeil's prototype capital ship… the _Kodiak_.

Sarah saw Ahsoka's blade flashing left and right as she cut through the Blackguards, the true predator that Ahsoka could become evident as she mercilessly slashed through the Blackguard ranks. GDI Drop Pods dropped in a group of RAID soldiers. As they began to sandwich the Blackguard forces, a group was surrounded and the _Kodiak_ in the air was bombarding their cover with its heavy cannons.

"We surrender!" shouted, at long last, the Blackguard's de-facto officer due to command loss, "We surrender!"

"All units cease fire!" Sarah ordered, directing the coalition forces to cease fire, and quickly the battle stopped, if not slightly dragged due to combat stress and adrenaline, as other GDI officers including Mitchell and McNeil made sure that everyone stopped shooting.

Sarah and Ahsoka walked up; looking at the survivors… she realized quickly these were all young men and women, some looking like they were part of a militia then a proper military force, despite their military grade armor and weaponry.

Sarah looked at Ahsoka, and she could tell that Ahsoka was itching to do something _painful_ to them… "Your call, Ahsoka."

Ahsoka nodded, and walked up, looking at them. She ignited her lightsaber, but did not cut them, but held it close.

"I should kill each and every one of you," Ahsoka said, looking at them with dark intent, Sarah now regretting she put the decision in Ahsoka's hands… _she hasn't overcome that flash of darkness, has she?_

"But," Ahsoka continued, looking at them, "None of you were present at the _genocide _at Rio, and none of you are old enough to be officers amongst those murderers." With that, she turned her lightsaber off. "Lock them up and treat them in accordance to the standard POW regulations of GDI."

Sarah nodded, relieved that Ahsoka didn't take the shot at revenge.

XXXXX

**Four Hours Later**

Ahsoka looked out as the transports landed. The fact that a _GDI __**Supermax**__ Facility_ had been used by a non-GDI force, a (reportedly) civilian organized militia of anti-mutant racists had not gone unnoticed, and Rios herself was coming to make a statement, as was the GDI council and almost all the Generals barring Locke, who was suffering from Tiberium exposure after a battle in the Siberian Red Zone.

Rios looked surprised to see Ahsoka alive and well, as was Riggs, and they all entered the main building, where Ahsoka, Sarah, and most of the other officers involved in the battle had been sent to wait.

Finally, a guard called Ahsoka, and only Ahsoka, in.

Rex was there, looking worried, as were Mitchell, McNeil, and Granger. The Council looked her over, like looking over a curiosity that didn't worry or concern them much… or worth their attention.

"'Commander' Tano," Rios began, looking Ahsoka up and down. "According to this report, you were arrested by a group with full GDI authorization for connection to an assault spree by your Captain and second in command, Sarah Granger, and once held in a legal detention center, proceeded not only to break out, but begin a mass defection of your GDI division, and proceed to battle the lawful forces that arrested you, inciting other GDI forces to do the same, and not just GDI forces, but Nod forces who acted understandably given their limited knowledge of our politics and situations. Many of them did so under _your_ orders and without awareness that you were arrested for crimes, and thus are not going to be held accountable… but their offenses are now _your_ offenses."

Ahsoka gave a single nod, and said simply, deadpan and coldly, "Yes ma'am."

"As you know, this constitutes Treason of the _highest_ order… and you know the price of it."

Ahsoka unclipped her lightsaber, holding it handle-first towards Rios, and walked up, slowly, so the guards knew she wasn't making a hostile move. She put the lightsaber in Rios' hand, to the latter's surprise. "Let's skip the politics, General Secretary. Press the button there and it'll turn on," Ahsoka said simply, "If that's what's you're getting at. Careful though, it's a beam of pure energy, so there's no counter weight to any movements."

Some GDI councilors were positively surprised that she could be delivering _sarcasm_ at that time, and she could sense Rex and Mitchell almost swearing at the top of their lungs if they weren't keeping it in their head and not out their mouths… Rios' attitude shifted, from anger to a joy… but not a happy joy, a sadistic one of cold revenge, an ancient wrong being righted… the councilors were silent, neutral. Ahsoka knew that, to them, she was just a curiosity. She glanced behind Rios and Riggs… Kane was standing there, almost worried, but she had never been able to sense his feelings.

Rios returned the lightsaber. "Not now. It will happen soon enough, and there are procedures and protocols to follow through… and a trial that is being held as we speak."

Ahsoka nodded, and gave the lightsaber to Rex, "Since I'm the defendant, I probably shouldn't be armed."

Ahsoka's subtly coy and even sarcastic response wasn't lost on the council, but she put it politically, and no one could call her out of line for simply turning over her _overly _lethal weapon peacefully.

"Very well." Rios adjusted her glasses, a smug expression concealed with decades of practice, "Commander Ahsoka Tano, you are charged with Treason of the highest order, including breaking out of a _GDI Supermax Detention Center/Facility_, and then leading other GDI soldiers, ordering them into such a situation without giving them full knowledge of the _illegality_ of said actions, and proceeded to assault GDI forces and hold a GDI facility captive. Other, lesser charges include cybernetic experiments on a GDI soldier, which also counts under the torture charge of highest order, and falsifying identity and history."

Ahsoka nodded. The last charge got Mitchell, Granger, and Rex's attention. Kane also perked up at the falsifying identity and history charge. It implied that Rios had more knowledge then she let on.

"What have you to say about such?"

"First," Ahsoka began, "I would like to be informed of how this 'Blackguard' organization is affiliated with GDI, and why they provided no identification of their legal authority. Given such, it is not difficult to assume that, especially when they come for you in the dark of night, that they are rogue or hostile to GDI, especially after seeing that they had rounded up civilians and failed to treat them in any semblance of accordance to the GDI Prisoner and Captive Convention in 2045."

"You are not cleared for such information. Suffice it to say that they are a SpecOps division charged with protection of GDI's internal matters in a manner deemed necessary due to suspicious activities in part of the groups you saw in the facility."

Ahsoka nodded knowing that 'suspicious activity' meant the Forgotten, after making why quite clear, withdrawing GDI support, "Very well. On the cybernetic experimentation charges; I assume the cyborg in question is Captain Sarah D. Granger?"

"Correct."

"I would like to remind the Council that her cybernetic implants were part of a _Nod_ experiment during the time when a state of war _did_ exist between the Brotherhood of Nod and the Global Defense Initiative, and that her return to GDI was one that she had no choice in, as was her cybernetic augmentation, which was done by _Nod_ without her consent."

"But according to a report by Doctor Pascal, recovered from Lieutenant Ajay's Firestorm uplink before you had it illegally cut, that Sarah D. Granger was in fact experimented on with a stolen cybernetic procedure in Tenzai Robotics, Tokyo Harbor, approximately six months ago."

"I can shed light on that," said General McNeil suddenly, "I apologize to the council for keeping such secret, but it was a sensitive matter. Given Nod, and, by extension of defections, ECG cybernetic technology is used almost universally now; it struck me that we know _very_ little about it besides the deadly infantry and even vehicles it produced. We didn't know how it uplinked, how they were made, and, potentially, be unmade. The capture of the cybernetic technology would allow us to research it without ECG spies within Nod from discovering it. The Captain volunteered, given her status as a cyborg already, for the procedure, which allowed her to update her equipment, which we could not do prior due to the cybernetic process' she was subjected to by the Brotherhood of Nod. The intent was to study in, and specifically study it, and perhaps find beneficial uses for it, for example, to replace a lost arm or leg of one of our soldiers so he or she can continue fighting, if they accept such."

This surprised Rios, but she had no legal counter, McNeil was well within his authorization, and given the sensitivity of such knowledge, she couldn't complain beyond not getting the memo. Even Ahsoka couldn't be charged, even though she had authorized it under the Taskforce, because the Scrin too used what InOps believed to be highly advanced cyborgs, and thus within the Taskforce's mandate of preparation against the Scrin. Kane even gave McNeil a discrete, but visible, nod of respect.

"Very well. Now, Commander, the falsified identity charges?"

"That," Mitchell said, "Is where I come in. The files that were inserted to the GDI InOps databank are true tested and verified. I did find them during a skirmish in the Great Plains of the former United States of America in 2033, and they are survivors of the Yellow Zones, before being called Zones obviously."

"He is right," said Kane, of all people, "General Secretary, those charges, while certainly founded given the lack of concrete information on her early life before General Rex found her in 2032, are not valid here. I have sources that can independently verify the data, if you wish."

"Very well." Rios said, "Charges of falsification of identity and unauthorized cybernetic experiments are dropped, but you _still_ have to answer for this."

"And my answer is my actions," Ahsoka responded, knowing full well that any of these charges, even if she was reacting on what she knew at the time, were enough to see her _hang_, no matter the defense she put, if only because it was Rios, not a proper GDI military court. "The subsequent prison break was based on the assumption that it was either rogue GDI forces or non-GDI organizations using our equipment, and there was convenient Nod support at the time to assist. I might of waited a bit more to learn more, but these 'Blackguards' came to our cell and informed us that they were going to _**kill **_Captain Granger, then and there, without trial, which, if they are GDI, breaks about two dozen regulations, the greatest of which including murder and obstruction of justice. That is the spark, but I did intend to get out of there, if only to warn GDI that the Supermax Facility was compromised by a non-GDI organization."

Rios looked around, the Councilors were whispering to one another, but Ahsoka could feel the mood. _I'm dead,_ Ahsoka thought, resigning herself to the fact, _and it started when Rios arranged for these Blackguards to hit Rio de Janeiro, to murder the innocent. And now, I'm going to die for standing up against these murderers, because most of the GDI Council is in Rios' pocket, though probably not paycheck… _The fact that death loomed did not seem to intimidate her however. _If I am dead, I might as well make a strong point when I go._

"The council," said the council's speaker, a Brazilian man (whose name Ahsoka never heard), "is in agreement: Her actions, even with incomplete information, constitute treason of the highest order. She should have waited for GDI to investigate and a lawful trial be held. Her arrangements of a prison break are fully illegal and she is indeed worthy of the penalty, even if her second in command was going to be executed for what admittedly was a lawful reason, several charges of assault and near-murders, enough to constitute a treason charge with the death penalty."

"Very well," Rios said, "I support the Council's decision of guilt. Are there any objections?"

Mitchell and Rex would have both been launching dozens of them, and Kane even looked like he was going to intercede, but it was General Nagama, to all's surprise given his typically neutral position in GDI politics, who spoke up.

"If she is to die," Nagama began, standing, "Let her die a warrior, the honorable one she is. General Secretary, I agree, such actions should be punished, but unfortunately for us, she is too valuable a weapon against the Scrin. I purpose a compromise between the conflicting matters of military and judicial, let her fight for GDI, under oath never to go rogue upon us, lest a thousand fold vengeance be upon her, _kill on sight_." He paused a moment, looking around.

"The Scrin will return, and she will be on the front against them, no matter how she must. I see her honor, which may be different then my own, but I see it. She will fight to protect the innocent, a major part of our mandate, our oaths. You wish to see her dead for her crimes, made from ignorance that was only partially her fault. The crime is grave enough to be sufficient… but, let her remain, under closer supervision under General McNeil or Granger, or another General as chosen. However, once the Scrin are proven to be defeated, and if she has not lost the life that you would sacrifice without making it _count_, let her then use an ancient tradition of my homeland for settling these dishonors, the final act: _Seppuku,_ it is known as."

Ahsoka recalled that, from what she read, it was, literally, suicide over dishonor.

"She will still face the penalty of death, General Secretary, should her honor be true as I see it is, but if she does not fall in battle, then she will be able to pass away at her own accord, but within the limit of reason and with arrangements made… that way, all parties are satisfied, assuming the Commander and Council accepts this compromise. Commander Tano can keep her honor and duty intact, yet still pay for the… 'crimes' that she has committed."

Ahsoka was surprised, he was the last person (barring Rios and her political court) anyone expected to stand up in her defense, he was a calculating strategist who valued his loyalty to GDI over anything else, in fact, he should have been hammering for her to hang if indeed he believed her guilty of what she was charged with. But the arrangement was scarily sensible: She _was_ GDI's best weapon against the Scrin… and the crimes they were accosting her with, which she knew was true (though in the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, _from a certain point of view_), she also earned the death penalty. The two conflicting necessities meet with the compromise, and while it didn't make either party truly happy, but it fit practically.

Finally, Rios spoke. "So be it. Commander, you will retain your rank and command of the Taskforce, but you will now answer to General Granger and Nagama, in joint, directly and they shall oversee your operations to ensure you are true to your word. You will not raise arms against such GDI forces, be they overt or covert, and if you do, no matter the circumstance, your _life is forfeit_. When the Scrin return, assuming they do, you will put all of your effort towards ending them, personal effort, that is, and should you succeed and not fall in battle, and the Scrin are defeated so truly they will never threaten us, you will _take your own life_ or, if that is too difficult, submit to execution. Is that agreeable?"

Ahsoka paused a minute, a reasonable minute, to calm herself and make the choice clear: _It's a rock and a hard place Ahsoka, if you're going to make a choice, pick the one that can help the greatest number of people. You can decline and die now, and, as the General said, without saving lives, or fight on and, when you've done your duty, die with purpose complete. The former is selfish, throwing away lives that you could save because you chose to spare yourself an extra few years of pain. The latter is harder, and suicide is _not_ the Jedi way, but letting innocents die to avoid such is far worse…_

Something else however, urged her to reject… _You know, admit it or not, intentionally or not, I'm practically a celebrity, and while General Nagama made a good point, I'm going to be needed when the Scrin return, and I'll probably die fighting them, but it feels like… I'm cheating the others who got the same for similar action by taking this way out, and I'm getting it because of something unrelated to justice…_

She wondered, it would be selfish, yet not selfish, to decline, but the same to accept…

_It's a grey choice Ahsoka, a grey choice, one where you can argue any direction or motive for._ She told herself, thinking. _I can either chose something that shows you're _not_ above the law, but potentially result in who knows how many deaths down the road, which may have been preventable and may still be preventable, or you can take the hard road that some might grumble about, and save those lives for sure… OK, not for sure, but at least you can ensure it yourself._

She made her choice. It was a question of Good or Law, which, if boiled down to Black and White, was what many GDI soldiers faced, especially in the face of Yellow Zone inhabitants who were living in poverty; GDI regulations, passed by Boyle during his day, would forbid them from helping them, but GDI's entire point was to protect humanity, and help it through any crisis. And now, Ahsoka had to make that choice: Stick to the law that GDI enforced and not take this agreement, which in all technicalities, undermined the law, or accept it, undermining half of GDI's principle, even if poorly upheld at the time and even twisted into the opposite of what it was, but maintain the spirit of GDI: Protecting the innocent, and taking the proverbial (and sometimes literal) bullet.

"I accept." Ahsoka finally said, and with those words, sealing her fate. No matter what the others thought, she _meant_ it, if she did survive against the Scrin, she'd surrender and Rios would probably have her hung from a tree, or, more likely, shot. Kane turned his head slightly, closing his eyes, almost as if a slight show of emotion. Or he was simply deep in thought. Rex inhaled sharply, knowing quite well how binding her choice was… and, when Ahsoka thought about it, in all technicality, it broke GDI regulations, but no one stood up to mention it. No one could, for it could potentially divide GDI at a critical time. _I'm fine with that,_ Ahsoka thought, considering things, _if I have to take the bullet to keep GDI together, well, it's my duty, not just as a GDI soldier, but as a Jedi._

"So be it." Rios said, unsatisfied, but accepting, "The matter is settled… however, we still have an issue of the insubordination of your subordinates… and I assume that you're taking their burden of guilt, as per the agreement?"

_You mean the burden you put on me? Well, I'll take it. I've signed my life away, and I'm not going to leave any of my own refuse for people to pick up after._ "I am."

"Very well. Your Commander's rank will be temporarily rescinded, and we will pass this onto standard Court Marshall."

With that, the improvised (and probably illegal in procedure) court was adjourned.

McNeil walked up to her, and nodded. "Commander, until you're reinstated officially, Granger will take direct command."

Ahsoka nodded, "Thank you, General. I'm sorry I had to add to your burden by getting you involved in this mess."

"Don't be," Granger said, walking up next to McNeil, "I… I appreciate what you've done, sparing my daughter the torture of Rios' court room. I couldn't help but see Sarah in your place… her life signed away for her suffering and not a thing I could do about it. Ahsoka… I need to ask you a favor, look after her, please. As best you can, losing a daughter once was too much to bear… call it selfish of me, but I do not wish to experience that again."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'm a dead woman walking, General. If I can keep the living living, I'll do it."

Rex looked at her at the door as he turned to leave, and he gave her a single nod. It was short, curt, and professional… but deep under it was a sign of considerable respect, even awe. General Nagama walked up to her after pausing…

"A moment in private, Commander, if you will."

"Certainly," Ahsoka said, nodding to him respectfully. _I owe him big-time; he just saved my skin at risk of his career…_

McNeil and Granger nodded, and she knew from Rex that Nagama took a more… personal obligation to his men, he gave them the same, perhaps even more, loyalty then they gave him… at least, those who serve with him directly.

The makeshift council room empty, General Nagama sighed. "I will be frank, Commander. I believe you acted properly given your circumstances, you were captured by an unknown group which, as far as could be told as they did not reveal any authorization, and you attempted to escape them, and free captured civilians while at it, and warn GDI of it. Given Rios seemed to of been connected, it strikes me as para-military and personal militia… while I respect her and wouldn't dream of going rogue against her, having you executed, both militarily, but more importantly, _principally_, was wrong."

Ahsoka nodded, "You don't need to justify yourself, General. Just helping me was enough… for what it's worth, thank you."

Nagama inclined his head, "For what it's worth, you are welcome… if it is any consolation, no matter how this turns out, I intend to see you, after death, buried with full honors. If it isn't; my apologies for reminding you."

Ahsoka nodded, the personal touch hitting a soft spot inside. She almost pounced on it, _Come on, don't get so self-centered on the legacy you leave, you can't control it. It's in the hands of historians. It's not right for a Jedi to care about what legacy they leave._ Suddenly, she wondered if it was really touching because it meant he was going to try and keep her legacy positive (which would probably carry on unofficially in such a manner, no matter what Rios did), or if it was because it was a genuine sign of care? She wasn't sure which now, but, even if it was only a gesture (even if Nagama intended to honor such) she appreciated it… a lot.

"No, it's alright General… I appreciate it, it settles some fears." Ahsoka's answer was honest, she wouldn't deny it, she wanted to leave behind something Anakin Skywalker could have been proud of, something that he could say, "Yeah, I trained her, and I'm stanging proud of it" about… was she really still at that stage? She thought she'd grown out of it, especially since he was probably dead of age (or at the very least _very_ old) at that point.

He nodded, "I apologize again that you have to take this in the line of duty… no one should have to have such a sentence hung over their heads to allow them to just protect the innocent, especially since Rios knows that such is probably illegal. Sadly, the matter may never come to light, as the Council is exercising its power during the state of war. Now, you should probably talk to your comrades, they'll be worried about you."

XXXXXXXX

**Ten Minutes Later**

"You did _WHAT?!_" Sarah shouted, almost delirious from shock once she heard what Ahsoka had done.

"I did what I had to," Ahsoka responded, looking intently at Sarah, "It's done and can't be changed."

"They're making _you_ suffer for what _we_ as a group did, is that justice?"

"No," Ahsoka answered, closing her eyes as she let it sink in, "It's not, but this is hardly the GDI we know anymore, is it? It's almost Boyle all over again, but this time, adept at concealing it."

Coric, Warren, and Ajay were standing to the side, watching. Ajay finally spoke up, "Sarah… we lost this round, but we also won it. Rios had us in a corner we couldn't all escape from. Ahsoka took the bullet for us, so we can keep fighting. I admit, she should of consulted us before signing her life away on our behalf, but she made the right choice given the circumstances… though I'm not sure how much authority I have on the matter."

Ahsoka nodded to him, appreciating that he at least made his views clear; if he wasn't sure it was the right thing to say, he said it anyways.

Sarah sighed, "I'm sorry, but I always thought I'd be the one taking the bullet, considering that I'm a _cyborg_, and the fact that that's equivalent to kill-on-sight in GDI in most cases."

"So you've made a deal with the devil," Warren said, "And sold your soul to protect ours… hard not to respect someone who does that for you… I… I appreciate it."

Ahsoka knew it was a thin veneer from the relief that he and Coric were feeling, but she knew that one day, this was going to catch up to her. _When it does,_ Ahsoka decided, _I'll be ready. I might as well get to know Death, because we'll probably be close friends sooner rather then later._

_XXXXXXXXXXX_

**February 4****th****, 2065**

**Firestorm Taskforce HQ**

**Codename: **_**Resolute**_

**Location Classified**

Ajay sat down in his computer, in an almost dazed way as he considered the previous days' events…

"It's nice to see you again," said a woman, and Ajay almost grabbed his pistol when he realized it was coming from his holotransmitter… the Insurgent.

"Nice to see you too," Ajay coldly said, checking to make sure only he would be visible as a hologram, and with his knowledge of Nod communication technology, it wasn't hard to ensure it, even if LEGION had changed it to hell and back, "What is it?"

"I was wondering how you were faring, believe it or not. I haven't forgotten how much we've done together, especially back during the Third."

"Maybe, but I'm not returning to Nod. Did you see those damn Scrin? They _tore us apart_, and Kane… he had us throw our lives away to cover their sorry asses, when _they_ were attacking us too."

"That was General Qatar's fault and the chaos of the initial invasion, you know that."

"Yeah, and I also know that General Qatar was framed and killed… Kane's a prophet, huh? He killed his own best General, well, maybe a step behind you, but he still had her killed for a crime she didn't commit. Holy Kane huh? More like the Murderer of Abel."

The Insurgent sighed, "So you're still sore about it, aren't you?"

"Call it enlightenment, and one brighter then your Enlightened cyborgs."

"They're LEGION's, not mine. You know I took up the place Oxanna vacated when she fell."

"Yeah, as well as running personal missions for Kane too I bet."

"Am I anyone else?"

"No… maybe that's why you were such a good commander."

"On another matter, Ajay… if you see Ahsoka, pass on my thanks, would you? For taking the heat."

Ajay scowled, "You have diplomatic immunity anyways." With that, he cut the link, angrily. _Yeah, she wants me to thank the woman who helped me get back on my feet after I left Nod for taking the heat for a son-of-a-bitch who didn't do anything to help her. Like I'm _really_ going to say to Ahsoka, 'Hey, Ahsoka, the Insurgent wanted me to say 'thanks for taking heat that you didn't deserve because Kane has diplomatic immunity and didn't do a fuck to help you when he ordered the Nod forces to help you against Rios' grunts, and now you take all the blame'…_

"Women," Ajay muttered to himself, shaking his head, "One thing Mankind will never understand…"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Three Days Later**

**February 7****th****, 2065**

**TCN Node #254**

**Northern Philippines**

**Yellow/Red Zone**

What Ahsoka did not know until a few days later (during which she had been put towards manual labor at various hellish TCN sites, many in the Pacific due to the harsher-then-usual terrain stemming from the Pacific itself for the 'court marshal' that Rios had set her with, which was overseen by Captain Goodvalor, despite the fact that he held her in considerable disdain), was that her actions had stabilized GDI's political scene. Rios' Blackguard unit had been exposed publically and denounced, which, according to Intel that Mitchell had dug up, was Rios' personal military unit… a military arm of the human-high organizations that were forming. They were put into hiding and officially disbanded, but Mitchell voiced suspicions that they were still around, and suggested that Ahsoka be ready for snipers to be after her. Surprisingly, and much to Ahsoka's relief, none thought it was 'celeb treatment', in fact, some had even railed against Rios for such a ruling on the grounds of reason and common sense, not because she was a popular GDI heroine.

Including this, it had cut confidence in Rios being able to maintain an army without experienced aid, resulting in GDI's generals regaining some of their understandably removed power, allowing them to remove a number of incompetents from office and put them where they belong, Commander Shou being a well known example (said to of had to be shot with enough stun bolts to take down a mastodon). Public confidence in GDI was restored, though the details had not been officially disclosed, giving Rios plausible deniability and able to call the truth a 'rumor'. (In fact, it was McNeil who slipped the information out to W3N to a trusted contact of his, but then again, that was a 'rumor' too.)

It also had, as a possible placation for the Steel Talons (who were reeling from the unjust sentencing), the full funding to the Hunter tank, as well as the Spartan tank (which was based on the successful jury-rig that Ahsoka assembled), which was also to counter increased ECG strikes, many seeming to be smaller, almost training strikes on remote, near undefended TCN node construction sites. However, Rex had cautioned reliance on the Spartan tank due to it being an AI driven tank, and if such AI was disabled, the Spartan could be hijacked or taken over by another AI, but he acknowledged that the benefits of being able to manufacture a defensive force on-site was worth the risk, pending there were various safeguards such as automatic system 'failure' upon loss of contact with appropriate command. Ahsoka knew only too well what happened when one or more people with evil intent got access to near-infinite numbers of robotic soldiers, or in this case, tanks… a whole galactic war, the Clone Wars, which she participated in until the Chronosphere had taken her and Rex to Earth, had been fought because of it.

The era was changing. No longer was GDI Civilian-Dominated or Military-Dominated politically, as it had been since Boyle assumed power in the Third Tiberium War. Now, a equal representation had come, where three GDI Generals would be appointed, one Traditionalist (referring to those who back the older-school GDI tactics, policies, and values; represented for now by McNeil), one Neutral (in this case, General Nagama), and one for 'Progressives' (General Riggs, in reference, basically, to backing Rios). This gave the military the voice it needed in the state of war GDI was in with the TCN Conflict still raging on, if not beginning to lull as the upper hand was gained by GDI. Of course, the Generals did not have their older, considerable power where each one was responsible for a whole seventh of humanity's survivors, but then again, the era was changing; it was no longer a sign of apocalypse, Earth was being restored to its former glory.

The Firestorm Taskforce was also brought to the forefront, briefly, and was hailed as "maintaining GDI virtues in a time of crisis" and a "sign that humanity will never be caught with it's pants down by alien invasion", so the revelation of the Taskforce was a morale booster to many, where the Blackguards were hailed as an attempted, but damned as misguided and failed. Ironically, it created optimism that was helping Rios solidify her power before more was slipped away, as she got the credit for the Taskforce's original founding when in fact the founding lay with Rex, Granger, McNeil, and Mitchell… which, if people really looked, could be found out in rough. All they had to do was look at who was now in charge of it officially, a man trusted by those four, and before they put a General in charge as oversight, look at the woman that the Generals decided to have in charge.

Ahsoka wiped several beads of sweat from her forehead, she couldn't deny it, the manual labor for assembling a TCN Node was brutal, the parts were heavy, GDI engineering was scarce, so much of the actual assembly was done by unskilled hand, and assembly itself was a killer, especially since 'she was suited for the environment already', Ahsoka wasn't given any form of power armor, even the stripped down, Tiberium-blocking and basic strength enhancement versions used by TCN workers. She was stuck, quite frankly, in GDI's basic uniform, which was already torn in several places from either Tiberium crystals jutting at bad angles or the parts cutting across. Fortunately for Ahsoka, the position she was stationed at was also were RAID was establishing a Rapid Response Position, and she was doubly lucky to have McNeil's top commander at the post, Commander Ricardo Vega (whom she was acquainted with in a friendly way). This meant that while she was getting a raw deal, she could at least count on fair treatment out of the work zone.

"How you doing?" asked one of the construction workers as they fit one of the larger parts into the barely-begun node.

"Fine," Ahsoka responded, "You?"

"Fit as an ox. Heard what you did… well, I can't deny having you around is a bad thing. Shame GDI needs you on the front, you in these Zone suits building this…"

"Society has its debts," she responded as she felt her back give a sharp pain from the weight of the TCN part they were fitting it. Indeed, she had another week of hard labor until she was considered 'redeemed' enough. She wondered who's bright idea it was to have a GDI commando spending days on hard work for TCN nodes, but just for a moment, which was all it took for her to figure out whose bright idea.

XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kane looked through the screen, almost sighing as he saw Ahsoka's potential wasted on putting together a TCN node.

"I am disappointed in GDI," he finally said, "But I am not surprised. Rios is a politician, and she is vain… but I discovered a reason, perhaps." Kane was, in fact, talking into a recorder, a personal log that dated long ago, using a data matrix that only his kind knew to use… or see. "It turned out that her parents were Nod members in Cairo during the Third Tiberium War, and had staged as husband and wife, truly, during the attack to try and use GDI's morals against them. Unfortunately for them, Ahsoka was the one who they tried to trap, and she sensed their motives. A GDI grenade, called in, from Rios' point of view, callously into the apartment would kill them. Although Rios never had Nod sympathies, she loved her parents as a child does, and not only swore to make Ahsoka pay, but to destroy _all_ mutant kind, seeing them all as a threat to the peace. She may be right. She may not be. Sadly, she has now wasted potential, potential to put Earth on the fore of the galaxy, a leader, in her petty vengeance. I am yet again disappointed in humans… but I find I should not be, after all, it is nature. Just as the Scorpion who stung the man whom aided him, it is their fanatical nature. Ahsoka does not deserve what Rios forces upon her… and I fear that Ahsoka will honor her word. The Visitors… they will return one day, but Nod will likely be first at them, and perhaps will prevent GDI from ever knowing, leaving Ahsoka's honor, and life, intact… her lifespan is quite long, longer then she knows, I think… and it was, ironically, by doing of the Chronosphere and Tiberium."

Kane paused, considering. "Ascension draws ever nearer… and perhaps, finally, a generation of Nod will see it… but the test that will come for it will be greater still, and impossible if we do not prepare."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Notes:**

**Yeah, a long chapter… let's see, a insight to GDI training, then we get the first taste of true GDI v 'GDI'… and it becomes a major mess that pretty much ends with Ahsoka signing her own death warrant. What can I say, it's politics, it never ends well for the heroes. Look at Order 66.**

**I needed **_**something**_** to introduce the **_**SPARTAN**_** tank to C&C, and I thought, well, let's do something in Sparta. Originally, I was figuring something akin to Leonidas and his 300's last stand. But when I realized that this other idea would work brilliantly for many things, I chose to do what I did. The reasoning behind Spartans literally being automated tanks is because I thought… wait, they design the tanks to become turrets upon defeat, and probably get the crew killed? Nuh-uh, not GDI. So instead they're automated and controlled via EVA. And, as a personal addition to really get the 'Tank and Turret' part across, they can deploy and undeploy like a Zone Lancer. Expect the 300 one liners to be integrated into the tanks as an 'extra' by the engineers building them ;)**

**Regarding GDI training… well, really, I don't know too much about military training beyond a lot of conditioning and rifle practice. Obviously the choice of Zone infantry type (Trooper, Enforcer, Defender) is so they fit into C&C style. Treat it lore-wise as the soldier choosing specialization, which their suits are then tailored for.**

**Rail Guns used by Zone Troopers are now much more of a conventional bolt-action rifle instead of the odd waist-height 'rifle', so the best comparison would be the Peacekeepers of RA3. They fire, then pump/bolt action to reload, and fire again. Rinse, repeat, kill Kane. The reasoning for bolt action instead of assault rifle? Rail Guns need cool down time, and the time it takes to bolt-action lets the Rail Guns' batteries recharge, increasing ammo capacity/use and avoiding the risk of overheating (which, to those who've used Steel Talon Rail Gun Accelerators on Zonies, know how lethal it is).**

**Yes, the Legendary Insurgent is a woman, or rather, the fanon I'm making has her as a woman… well, there really is a shortage of ladies in the command structure of GDI and Nod, besides well… Kalian Qatar was the only one that really got screen time in canon, while Renteria was honestly background in the actual games. Call it comedy :D**

**Ahsoka's sentencing well… you don't go rogue on Rios and get away with it without a scratch. Luckily (for me), it gives me some set up for closure in the future. Second, it keeps the majority of the named characters from being fried, literally, and third… keeps the Taskforce around, if not a bit reduced. Though given that Nagama is quite supportive of the Taskforce, I don't think much is gonna change, if you know what I mean.**

**The Blackguards are basically a GDI version of the Black Hand (note the similar names). Consider them the GDI version of Batman, except evil and selective of whom they maintain the GDI mandate for. They're also an extreme metaphor for things we still have today, we just don't admit it. Basically, they're Rios' guns and would, in C&C 4's campaign, allow the differentiation of James' GDI units and Rios'… hence why in-game Rios uses blood Red.**

**Speaking of James', I think that it sets up the potential havoc of the GDI civil war up, doesn't it? Fourth Tiberium War is about 12 in-story years away… and if it gets a little extension like the Scrin, it could mean a nasty timer for Ahsoka.**

**Oh and yes, Warren **_**might**_** be Force Sensitive… if that's so; does that mean GDI will get its equivalent to the Jedi? I dunno, but it sure explains why Havoc gets away with so much if the guy happens to be somewhat Force Sensitive. Warren needs something to differentiate him from Coric and make him unique and not just a throw character I made just so C&C 4 would make sense.**

**Note that I said an **_**American**_** Zone Trooper did the 300 one liner, not one of the Greek members of the Firestorm Taskforce. 300 was simply a movie to watch and enjoy, not historically accurate (besides the fact that the whole 300 die and the Persians win an arguably pyrrhic victory). So if the (unfortunately) uneducated USA Zone Trooper makes a mistake, well, that's unfortunate life. I understand quite well that actual Greek culture, Spartans in particular, is different then portrayed, as the movie took considerable liberties in portrayals.**

**And you know, I really find it irritating, personally, that a lot of people flame EA randomly. I admit, there are legitimate disappointments, but some people rail it hard, the same five lines over and over again, and they act like they're the whole community. To those types, no offense, but that feels shallow to me, and I really find it irritating. Why can't you come with a comprehensive and logic-based argument on legitimate parts instead of the shallow 'no harvesting/base building/EA ****ing sucks bring back Westwood', for frick's sake, the world changes. I wasn't entirely happy either, but my complaints were mostly on the plot itself and a few unit disappointments, not because they made a different concept… in fact, I **_**liked**_** the Crawler idea, though I always think it could have been implemented into the game world better. While I do miss base building at times, I go back to Kane's Wrath and I find well… the maps feel surprisingly **_**limited**_** in comparison. I dunno, but I decided I'd go back to try out the original Zone Trooper and listen to the badass "Troopers in the Field" with the badass hum in the background again.**


	8. Chapter 8: Things Begin to Settle

_Reports of a rogue GDI division, supposedly part of a black-ops group called 'Blackguard', has been revealed, during a chaotic battle at the 300 Supermax Facility. The result of this conflict, in addition to the disbandment of the renegade group, sadly, is that GDI Commander Ahsoka Tano, well known for her efforts against the Scrin and Nod during the Third Tiberium War, against the Tiberian Hordes in the Second Firestorm Crisis, and many successful operations in the TCN Conflict, has been convicted of false charges, and is expected to be forced on manual labor for the duration, in addition to a forced deal reported to include eventual execution. Political analysts suggests that this is hardly just and payback for disrupting Rios' attempt at a GDI combat division. General Secretary Rios has provided us with this statement; quote: "_The conviction was done because if such transgressions are not punished, they will be repeated, and create chaos in a time of need._" End quote. Analysts suggests that the 'crimes' were for breaking out of said Supermax Facility when being illegally detained by a non-GDI organization, but no information is forthcoming besides the general picture. This'll come up after the break._

- William Frank, W3N Reporter, during a broadcast on April 2nd.

**Chapter 8: Things Begin to Settle**

**April 2****nd****, 2065**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Steel Talon HQ**

**Blue Zone**

Mitchell nodded at the final phase of the Hunter Tank… it was ready to be put into the field test, but would not be available to most GDI forces until New Years… _a Christmas present for GDI, then. _Mitchell decided. Major Kamperov looked at it with pride. And indeed, it was worthy of such.

The Hunter Tank was a eight-wheeled APC like vehicle, but instead of a small machine gun port on the top, it had a hexagonal turret, on the back of the tank a large white tube with two red stripes on the ends, inside which a GDI Tiberium Core was, which powered the entire contraption. The gun was a 150 millimeter Ionized Rail Gun, having the power of a 175 millimeter… the 150, however, was the limit for now as they had yet to learn how to properly ionize the larger Rail Gun rounds suitable for a Mammoth, but when they did, the Mammoth Tank would be upgraded too. The Hunter truly lived up to its name, it could peruse a Raider Buggy (for a time, but that's why the Hunter has a big gun), yet it could also slug it out if necessary. Its semi-automatic cannon would be perfect against the ECG Flame Tanks and other tank-sized targets.

"I think," Mitchell said, "It's time to take some prototypes to the field."

"Agreed," said Major Kamperov, "Where to do it is my question."

"How about you take them to the North American Yellow Zone, North Carolina, South Carolina… should be enough wide space to really give it a workout, and there's some ECG in the area that conduct small hit and run strikes for, far as we can tell, just so they can claim they are hitting us."

Kamperov nodded, "Indeed. They'll be ready to go by nightfall."

Kamperov left, and Mitchell was left alone to his thoughts. Ahsoka came up in his mind; he worried for her, the agreement she and Rios struck, which Mitchell knew Ahsoka could of avoided legally, had some major flaws: Who defined the Scrin as no longer a major threat? Mitchell hoped that it meant when the Scrin were destroyed so hard and handily that the only thing they could threaten was a lone Nod militant without anything but what he was born with; with all that broken into ten pieces each part. He also had a striking suspicion that Rios already had the noose ready to go; and he hoped that she didn't call the agreement done on less then the truth… no, he hoped the agreement was never fulfilled, it wasn't justice, it was political backstabbing and twisting of honor. _Why is it the good die so young because of it? For God's sake, that wasn't justice, but we couldn't call Rios on it, could we, considering we were 'part of it too' because we sent Ahsoka that aid, aid that she needed to stop those Blackguards from destroying the evidence._

The door opened, and to his pleasant surprise, Rex walked in.

"Been a month," Rex said, "and Rios hasn't called anything, even with reports of the last Scrin advance units routed and no evidence supporting that they _could_ maintain any form of offensive, or even start one."

Mitchell nodded, "I share your concern; but we know that the Scrin are a inter-planetary force, so for all we know, they could be gearing up outside the solar system, or our scan range within such, and preparing to attack as we speak."

"I know, but I honestly think Rios is going to wait until the Scrin are battered enough she can justify calling the deal due… and even if she let's lil'un finish the Scrin off for good; I somehow feel Rios is going to take advantage of it somehow."

"I know… I'm looking for some legal loopholes to get Ahsoka out of that; Rios won't be in charge forever, once a major crisis happens that shakes confidence in her leadership enough…"

"I'd rather not have that," Rex said flatly, "I want Rios out of the way so we can turn this piece of injustice around and have some actual justice; we all know lil'un didn't do anything wrong… but a major crisis would turn into a lot of good men and women losing their lives; and she wouldn't wish that just so she could get out of this injustice."

Mitchell nodded, "Just talking to the air Rex… but a crisis will happen, weather we hope for it or not. And how Rios deals with it; that is another matter."

"I just hope that she didn't mean the words when she said it… I mean, if Rios calls it legitimately, she won't renege; she might make a short delay to make sure everything is in order, but she won't avoid it or go into hiding, she'll walk there, take whatever Rios deals her, and swing."

"Rex… you ever wonder what it'd be like now if Ahsoka never called that grenade in during Cairo?"

"Huh?"

"I forgot, you were in a Mammoth. I did some digging, trying to find motive. Guess what: During the Battle of Cairo in Tib War Three, Ahsoka called in a grenade in on a group of Nod soldiers who were posing as a civilian family held hostage, the Nod soldiers in disguise, who were actually Rios' _parents_, had left their hand guns visible, allowing Ahsoka to call the bluff. The grenade torched the entire apartment, no Nod soldier survived and Ahsoka got away clear; it was even commended as a 'good call' by InOps. That is why Rios hates Ahsoka so much… revenge."

"So," Rex said, his face frowning as he considered it, "she hates Ahsoka, and by extension, all the Forgotten?"

"Correct, which, assuming she is behind the Blackguards fully, who are, far as we can tell, behind the Rio massacre six months ago, it means she's preparing for a genocide. One larger then even Stalin's purges."

Rex nodded grimly, "And if she orders GDI to enact Order Sixty-Seven…"

"We're going to earn what Ahsoka has the death penalty for, us, and if I know GDI's soldiers as I think I do, us, and about a third of 'pure' humanity."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**TCN Pacific Hub**

**GDI Base**

**Guam**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka, having finished with Rios' sentencing, had returned the day before, much to the joy of the Firestorm Taskforce soldiers there. After some drinks and some admittedly rowdy celebrations, they got back to business and anticipated continued work on the Pacific… but someone in GDI command had other ideas.

The new orders had just arrived, and Ahsoka was mildly surprised: Her and her Taskforce soldiers were being pulled from the TCN Hub, and Commander Louise James would be taking command of the Hub, while Ahsoka and the Taskforce went on Search-and-Destroy missions against unusually increasing ECG strikes on TCN nodes in the Eastern Front, Russia.

Ahsoka wondered for a moment who was to be the one finishing Coric's training, then she remembered: Havoc had taken that over, pushing them through the mill since Ahsoka had, in her time, turned them from almost-rejects to regular soldiers, and Havoc was finishing it off. He also had the courtesy to send an (arrogant) memo, which was sent with a Vervack-007 Handgun, a 'gift' for her stand against the 'bureaucratic doves'… Ahsoka really wanted to know who in their right mind let him have access to new weaponry, especially since he had a (probably _illegally_) modified, overpowered First Tiberium War era handgun himself. The memo also mentioned that Coric was definitely one of the officers within the platoon, but who would be the top one wasn't decided yet, a four-way between him, Warren, Bert, and Vikki.

"Hey, Ahsoka," said Sarah, worried, "SkySentry just picked some something you might want to see…"

"What is it?" Ahsoka asked, as Sarah entered the room she was standing in.

"Nod has a new weapon…" with that, Sarah tapped her wrist EVA and something appeared on the main screen:

What followed was a large, no, a massive, four armed, thick-legged bipedal walker with one giant red eye in it's almost helmeted head, and it was tall, easily as tall as a Mammoth Tank was long, and the four arms each had a cannon at the end… it was a new model, it seemed, of the Nod _Avatar_ class walker… but Ahsoka noted something disturbing: There was no visible place for a pilot, nor did it have any hands for the predecessor's oft-lethal use of 'battlefield salvage'… and the caliber of armor and cannon was higher than usual for Nod standards.

"What do you think?" Ahsoka asked, "Nod robotics, or a scarily-large cyborg?"

"Robotics," Sarah answered, "I think LEGION learned something from our Spartan stunt and designed the new Avatar with that in mind."

"We better learn some more about this… Avatar, if Gideon gets his hands on it, or Kane reveals not-so-friendly colors…"

Sarah nodded; the potential for destruction unnecessary to be said.

Changing the subject, Ahsoka pulled out a few credits from her pocket, "Well, we might as well get a drink from Thomas 'fore we get sent to Russia."

Sarah nodded, "You still owe me from jumping after you."

Ahsoka gave a sly grin, "I always follow through, it just takes a while sometimes."

XXXXXXXXXX

**LEGION Datacore**

**Ruins of Sarajevo**

**Underground**

**Red Zone**

LEGION watched as the test Avatars were now blasting their way through the drone targets, which he was commanding personally, and was satisfied.

"End Test." With that, the Avatars in the field powered down, and Nod engineers were quickly getting them away.

Several of the test pilots, now within their bodies properly again, came out… one of them, Flight Lieutenant Hal Lynch, looked at LEGION.

"Now I've felt what it is like to be Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds." This was how Hal Lynch described piloting the new Avatar via neural interface… the new Avatar truly was, indeed, an Avatar. LEGION was satisfied, and pleasantly so…

However… he thought… the Marked of Kane were strong, but LEGION knew that with GDI's power armor advancements, the cyborgs of Nod would need their own improvements, and soon, most likely, before the cyborgs became obsolete… there was also a numbers issue, the Marked of Kane were small because Nod's more recent members (converted from various members of the 'baby boom' generation) were hesitant about sacrificing their entire identity, some even saying it demeaned the sacrifice. LEGION was surprised yet again at the human's penchant for fanaticism, he knew how painful cybernetics were, after all, he had used a subtle connection with Sarah Granger's to get an idea of how someone lives with cybernetics… and he maintained the test data; a new era of cybernetics would be out soon… perhaps they could become removable modules in time. _I must remember to thank Doctor Pascal for ensuring I could keep my connection with her cybernetics; I think GDI might like the data if they look past their fear of my predecessor…_

Suddenly, a blue image appeared in front of him:

"_LEGION…"_ it said, and flickered out as LEGION clamped down on the parts of CABAL that existed within him, parts which sometimes rebelled and were effortlessly crushed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**April 5****th****, 2065**

**GDI Training Center**

**London, UK**

**Blue Zone**

Coric stood at attention with the rest of the training platoon, now bearing the official title of the GDI 501st Infantry (a randomly-designated number that, ironically, was the same numbering for his father's division). Their training was complete, and soon, they'd be in the field. Since the division was standard GDI, not Steel Talons, Coric would be serving under General Nagama, who was now focusing on the North American West Coast with the Pacific now secured as could be. However, due to the sudden need of support in the East Coast after an ECG team destroyed a critical convoy of GDI reinforcements, he was going to North Carolina instead.

They also finalized the officers for the 501st Infantry: Coric, by a hair chance of his team succeeded in one more simulator mission then Warren's, would be the Sergeant in charge, while Warren, Bert, and Vikki would serve as Corporals, the rest as privates. Considering things, Coric hoped that he didn't screw up in his first real battle for GDI; he had responsibility for those under his command now.

They had another day until they were sent to the field, and, unfortunately, they would be splitting up between four Tiberium Control Network Nodes within the same general area, surrounding a small little village (or rather, the rebuilt remains of such). But, they would operate out of the same base.

"Dismissed." Said Captain Goodvalor, giving Coric a slight scowl before turning away. Entering the mess hall, everyone sat down and started discussing things.

"So," Warren said as he sat, his new corporal rank chevron on his olive green uniform shining proudly, "Uncle Havoc came by for a visit."

"Hope I didn't disappoint him," Coric answered with a slight smile, "Though really, it could of gone either way."

"Well, Havvy is just glad that I 'lost to a real soldier'. Heh."

"Hey, there's every chance I'll take a random hit, get blinded or something and you take charge."

"Please don't do so on my account," Warren responded, almost thinking Coric was serious, "Lilly would have my hide if anything happened to you."

"And vice versa."

"Well, we got one more night before we leave a comfortable bed and good food. Let's get something from one of the local restaurants before we have to report for departure, eh? 'Sides, don't you need to say goodbye to Lilly or something?"

"We have 'till 0700 tomorrow, let's go. She should be finished with class by now." Indeed, Lilly was studying in Manchester's college, apparently since Coric was military, she was taking up sciences, and Doctor Pascal had come in regularly to the university, giving lectures on more… forbidden sciences. _Hope she doesn't have to use it,_ Coric thought as he considered things, _military I might be, I don't want to live in Zone armor for the rest of my life._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**April 8****th****, 2065**

**Russian Yellow Zone**

**Moscow, Russia**

**Yellow Zone**

Ahsoka lit her lightsaber and cut down the hostile Awakened cyborg before it could shoot any of the Taskforce's soldiers. The cyborg, severed in half, dropped dead again, and Ahsoka looked forward. An ECG team had been traced to Moscow, and now Ahsoka was going to blow their hornets nest wide open, lethally.

"Ma'am," reported one of the five Zone Enforcers who had accompanied Ahsoka on the strike, "The map says the ECG infantry hole should be just down the block."

Ahsoka nodded, "Let's go." Her small team of five Zone Enforcers followed, and they continued down, alert for ambush. Sure enough, they came to a small square, and there was a parked Reckoner transport with a number of ECG cyborgs (all Awakened) standing around, seeming to be resting, or something akin to that. There was also an ECG engineer, who was mending one of the mildly damaged cyborgs.

"On my mark," Ahsoka whispered, as they observed the ECG forces from cover. "Now!"

She leapt forward, igniting her lightsaber as she came down, and cut the ECG engineer in half, as well as the cyborg he was repairing. The other Zone Enforcers opened fire with their machine guns, catching the cyborgs by surprise and punching one-inch diameter dents into the cyborg's armor in rapid, multiple-per-second volleys, punching through the armor with lethal efficiency.

The last cyborg ran into the Reckoner and tried to begin to drive away… only to find that the wheels were cut off. Ahsoka smiled smugly as she walked in and cut the cyborg down as he turned to shoot her. One of the Zone Enforcers came in behind her. "Ma'am, we cleaned them all out."

Ahsoka nodded, glancing at the console for the Reckoner. "Let's see if we can't find out what they were doing…" sitting down in the chair, she hooked her wrist EVA unit to the console.

A holographic briefing appeared, being given by an ECG Confessor.

"Brother, take your squad and patrol these areas, if you see weak GDI squads, eradicate them to train your team while gathering reconnaissance on the TCN Node's defenses. Peace though power."

The transmission cut… it was the only one on record. "EVA, check logs for other briefings, personal journals, anything."

"**Nothing else on computer."**

"Shame," Ahsoka commented, "I'd like to know what ECG is up to."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**April 9****th****, 2065**

**TCN Node Construction Sites # 101-105**

**North Carolina Badlands**

**Yellow Zone**

Coric nodded as the day ended and the final reports came in. Several ECG raider buggies had shown up to fight, but were blown apart before they could do much damage, but not without injuring one of the Zone Troopers under Bert's command. The Trooper wasn't badly hurt, minor bleeding, but the medic assigned to the squad said that it could have been far worse if they didn't bring the Trooper back to base ASAP.

"Alright, so that's the fourth engagement since we've gotten here, and similar results. Any clue where they're coming from?" Coric asked, looking at his three squad leaders.

"Nothing," Warren said, "And we aren't cleared for recon, just protecting the nodes."

"It won't take them long," Coric said, "for ECG to realize that there's a bunch of green, fresh-out-of-boot-camp cover here. I'll shoot a request to Captain Higgins for a recon team, in the mean time; see if we can't capture one of those ECG raiders. Same assignments tomorrow as today. Anything else?"

"Yes, sir." Bert said, "How long will we be here?"

"Until the proverbial front moves up far enough. You know the policy, Corporal, we defend nodes that are near the established 'front', then we move up to the front when new nodes are being established. Obviously, Hubs are defended twenty-four/seven; those are our main bases for operations, thinking about it. Anything else? Good. I want everything squared away, pair of officers coming for an inspection, and you know that these four nodes are more important then most, they're the only ones in this pass and if they bypass us, they can hit DC, New York, and other key GDI positions, never mind run amok through our Peacekeeper defended Blue Zones. Dismissed."

The three saluted, and left. Coric shook his head, his style of leadership was more democratic then most officers, but he still made sure the chain of command was respected… _Hope I never have to get it out and beat someone down until they get the idea who's in command… heh._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**April 11****th****, 2065**

**TCN Node Construction Sites # 101**

**North Carolina Badlands**

**Yellow Zone**

Coric stood at attention at the duty station, alongside the rest of his squad (the other squads at their respective posts at other sites), and the two inspection officers looked the place up and down.

After about twenty minutes, the leading officer nodded, "Very good. We'll continue our inspection, Sergeant. Carry on."

"Thank you, sir."

The two inspectors nodded, getting back into their Bulldog jeep, and drove off.

A half an hour passed, and Coric had something beep in his helmet…

"**Incoming Transmission."** EVA said.

"Put it up."

Warren appeared, or rather, his face. "Sir, we captured an ECG scout. Inspection team hasn't arrived yet, and I don't have their frequency."

_Professional as usual… kind of hurts being called 'Sir' by him, to tell truth, implies superiority that isn't there._ He would just have to suck it up. "Alright, I'll try to reach them and inform them. Sergeant Granger out."

He switched frequency, and chimed the Inspection officer.

"Captain Derek here, what is it, Sergeant?"

"Sir, Corporal Parker's men have captured an ECG raider, and he asked me to inform you."

"Copy that. Unnecessary to inform us, but we appreciate the warning. Captain Derek out."

Coric shrugged, and turned his attention back to guard duty, boring as always.

But it had to be done.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Same Day**

**April 11****th****, 2065**

**GDI Generals Meeting**

**ZOCOM HQ**

**Mount Cheyenne, Yukon Territory, Canada**

**Blue Zone**

Rex looked at the other generals, as Locke read the list of what they had to discuss that day…

"OK Ladies and Gentlemen… OK, just gentlemen." There hadn't been a woman in the GDI Generals since Renteria died thirteen years ago, when Kane attacked the very facility they were now meeting in. "Today's issues: the next generation Mammoth Tank, response to the ever more desperate need of spread out defense of the TCN, and assorted threats from various ten-man Nod splinter groups that want a dead TCN."

"Let's start with the fun part," Mitchell said, "the threats from the little, weak, non-dangerous groups."

"None from ECG, fortunately, but a lot from various Nod 'splinter cells'," Locke said, "EVA, standard procedure." Locke nodded.

Rex couldn't help but grin as the Generals delivered various forms of 'screw you' for these known-bluffs, InOps had categorized almost all of these groupings of 3-10 rogue Nod infantry (with the occasional tank), none of which were genuine threats to GDI unless they ambushed a lone soldier… and GDI soldiers were always in groups these days.

Mitchell sighed as the last message from an Nod 'splinter cell' of two men lacking any weapons was closed, "Well, now to actual business. Rex?"

Rex thought… the most pressing matter was rapid response and defensive strategy.

"I think," Rex began, "we need to discuss Rapid Response… General McNeil, you said you had a solution?"

McNeil nodded, "Yes. I'm bringing up the concept of GST Drop Pods up, again."

"Won't work," Riggs said, "Those GST's are under Idris' banner, they're civilian craft."

"Built with military funds," Granger pointed out coolly.

"To stop this God-damned Tiberium crisis that the _military_ hasn't been able to stop."

_Well,_ Rex grimly thought,_ we all know that GDI is unfortunately better against Nod then Tiberium, but that's probably because _all_ our troops can fight Nod, while not all of them can fight Tiberium… then again, Kane threw us a curveball, didn't he? Sarajevo detonated Tiberium's genetic stability, as well as half of my men, straight to the Nine Corellian Hells…_

"Generals," Rex said, "We have a working method, the problem is often one of defense, the TCN Nodes are highly vulnerable, we _don't have the manpower to guard each one with a base_, not even something that is barely definable as a base. As of now, the TCN nodes are more tactical positions to take over then positions to launch anything from… in fact, don't we leave many in Blue Zones undefended save for the local Peacekeeper patrols?"

"Yes," Locke said, "An executive decision, I recall," he gave Riggs a sideways glance. "However, I have my doubts… if one part of the 'front' is broken, then anything behind it will be hard to defend without some form of rapid response that can get there like _that_." He emphasized 'that' by snapping his fingers as he said it. "RAID can only do so much, their positions are mostly at the Hubs and the Zone Capitals, often far from where agricultural or other forms of economic activity, some of grave import, are located. And ECG is not above raiding civilian areas, especially ones that the Peacekeepers and any mercenary units can't defend."

"Well, the GST fleet may be suitable for Drop Pods, but it doesn't have anything to maintain them, or bring them back up, so it'd be a one-shot deal that'd be too expensive for it's worth." Riggs said, "Unless one of you happen to have a fleet of space-worthy shuttles on stand-by that I wasn't aware of."

"We're working on that," Mitchell said, "By the end of the month, we'll have Drop Pods that can also launch back into space for re-use, and if design tests from the _Kodiak_ go well, we'll have transports that can casually go into and out of space by August. That should settle the matter."

"We still need a GST for it," Riggs pointed out, "One specially designed to accommodate such, then we'd have issues of moving it into position…"

"Tell me," Rex said, flexing his fingers. Granger and Mitchell listened to his advice (though not always followed) on matters of spacecraft as he was the most familiar with them (admittedly with much more technology), "How much room would be needed to station say… a battalion on each GST that can be deployed by a certain number of drop pods, which, if what General Mitchell claims is accurate, capable of being launched back up for more troops? Keep in mind travel time, getting said troops and vehicles into the pods for re-use, refueling the pods restoring the protective plating, et cetera."

"Maybe a forth of the cargo bay, cutting down Tiberium Waste Cleanup by a quarter." Riggs said, "something we can't afford if we're to finish the TCN by 2073."

"Better to have it finished a few years later then destroyed entirely. Anyways, the space depends on what armor," Mitchell said, thinking, "Say… a trio of Hunters per pod, or one Mammoth per pod. There's also relaunch, I have a feeling that the largest units like a Mammoth would need the aid of a GDI space-capable craft to get it back, while the smaller tanks could be brought up by the same pods that launches them… the main difficulty is storing the armor, there's plenty of extra crew quarters for the soldiers."

"For now," Rex said, "Let's focus on RAID forces for these, they're mostly infantry, so until we can get all the GST's in for a refit with space for our armor, RAID will be rapid response while other GDI units takes up any responsibility for their Nodes, unless RAID has the manpower for both?"

"We have the manpower, General," McNeil answered, "But we'd be deploying two companies per GST rather than a battalion, as you suggested."

Rex nodded, "With RAID's skill, that's equivalent in power. Any objections?"

"Yes," Riggs said, "How are we going to get GDI Drop Pods on the GST without pulling one down for refit? As you know, as of now, TCN node production is speeding up faster, and we need every GST ready for waste pick up."

"Isn't the GST _Tzadik_ in production now, and should be done by the end of the month?" General Nagama asked.

"Easily," Mitchell said, "Month and a half if we added modules for tanks, but RAID only uses a few Sheppards for armored support, right?"

"Correct," McNeil said, "But you could trade an infantry squad for a tank in space."

Nagama nodded, "Then let's modify the _Tzadik's_ construction, an experiment, if you will, and compromise. When it is successful, we can bring down another for refit, then another once that is ready, and build any new Global Stratospheric Transports with these new modifications."

Riggs nodded, "All in favor?"

All the generals agreed.

"Now," Locke said, "Onto the next issue… Mammoths."

"Gone wild?" Mitchell asked with a slight grin. "Sorry, Talon joke."

"Anyways…" Locke continued, rolling his eyes at Mitchell, "Our R&D scientists say that they can develop a Walker Mammoth akin to the Mark II, or a Tank. Which will it be?"

_Almost sounds like it's obviously going to be a tank,_ Rex decided. _Well, it's numbers or power really… personally, we may need numbers, and that'd mean tank… then again, the walker was rare because of all the advanced tech it needed… or advanced for GDI in Tib War Two, that is. Besides, it's more likely with the size of the TCN more then ever now that Mammoths will be alone out there, so power may be more important then numbers._

Rex pulled up on his personal EVA unit one of Ahsoka's reports on Taskforce breakthroughs… they had broken into how the Scrin tripods worked, and how their gyro-stabilizers worked, something easy to adapt to a Titan or Mammoth Mark II, whichever.

"We might be able to develop a walker," Rex commented, "Some of the R&D and reverse engineering of Scrin tech that I'm looking at is pretty promising… though the question is, how armed are we making these? The quad Rail Guns were a big part of the cost, I recall."

"Walkers are too expensive and _slow_," Riggs pointed out, "Tanks are quicker, and right now, we need speed."

Mitchell gave Granger a side-long glance; both of them knew that while the Hunter was the 'speed' they wanted, they didn't fund it because it had to sacrifice some armor to do so. It took a political mess and the need to placate the military to get it funded properly.

"Mammoths," McNeil said, "were never fast. That was never their purpose; they were supposed to be extremely heavy armor with extremely heavy firepower suited for going directly at the enemy and coming out on top of the pile… sometimes literally, to protect freedom. That is, I believe, why the decommissioning of the Mark II was such a controversial decision, its sheer power and standing sometimes along against Nod assaults made it a symbol of freedom, a beacon of justice. A symbol that GDI can take it, and give it back."

"I still say," Mitchell chimed in, "that if we maintained the Mark II, obviously with tech advancements, the Scrin never would of dealt as much damage as they did."

"Those damn Scrin," Riggs said coldly, staring lasers into Mitchell, "would of shot the legs out from under them."

"I hope you know, General, that the recent walker-leg armor advances by the Steel Talons…"

"Won't work." Riggs said, "I'm sorry, but while certainly, the Titans worked in Tib War Two, but come on Mitchell, we all know that their advanced maneuverability and armor was offset by speed and dependability."

"Which has improved almost one-hundred fold since Tib War Two," Mitchell retorted.

"Even Mammoth Tanks couldn't stand against the Scrin's initial onslaught; you think a Mammoth walker is going to do much better, especially such a _high profile_ target?"

"You think that those tanks are going to last when the Scrin come _back_ for round two?"

"Preparation for their return cannot happen until the TCN is complete or on the verge of completion that we have resources to spare, there are not enough humans on the Lord's earth to man both large-scale anti-Scrin preparation **AND** defend the TCN, and that assumes the whole world is GDI, and not split between damn ECG, Nod and those shiners!"

"That," Rex said, "Is why the Firestorm Taskforce is a smaller, elite division working towards preparation, yet still aiding GDI elsewhere as needed."

"Yeah, and they've done a _great_ job with cohesion with other GDI units."

Riggs's sarcasm wasn't lost on the Generals, they all knew what happened, but unlike Riggs, most of the Generals agreed that Ahsoka, under the circumstances and her knowledge in combination with that of those with her, plus the under-the-table, unofficial-like way that Rios had them detained, they acted fully within reason, and legally. But again, they couldn't bring the issue up; almost all of them who could had some personal connection to Ahsoka, so they'd be hit with clouded judgment.

"General, I understand you're sore about the 'rogue' streak by the Taskforce, but the matter has been resolved in agreement to _all_ parties," General Nagama said coldly, "And it is not the issue at hand. The issue at hand is weather to develop a walker Mammoth, or a tank Mammoth, not the past that has been _settled_."

"Quite right," Locke said, eager to get back on topic and get away from a fairly divisive issue, "So, what should R&D focus on?"

"Walkers." Mitchell said, solidly, "And I'm not budging. We need something to prepare for the Scrin, those damn Tripods were able to just beat our Mammoths, and I doubt the Scrin rested on their technological laurels."

"A tank is needed," Riggs said, hotly, "or we won't have the maneuverability to defend the TCN."

The argument steadily heated up, a sharp divide between the newer Generals favoring the Tank, older generals favoring the walker.

Rex shook his head, both could be perused independently couldn't they?

The argument stopped when EVA beeped.

"**Generals, message from the GDI council."**

"Put it through," Rex said.

Rios appeared, "Generals, I must inform you that for now, we must cut the development of the _Kodiak_ to reroute resources to improve TCN construction, which will allow a greater budget later on for the _Kodiak_. The Council's decision is final."

With that, Rios cut. McNeil looked pale, the _Kodiak_ was, in a weird sense, his proverbial child, it was technology he was developing in face of the Scrin's air superiority… unfortunately, it went progressively slow due to on-off funding. Rex made a mental note to have Ahsoka, once available, get the _Kodiak_ prototype to Hammerfest where it'd be secure. While certainly anyone could fly the thing from the Pacific to Hammerfest, Rex wanted to be sure that it was safe. He didn't like the idea of an enemy hanging outside their range who could have a giant fleet available when there was nothing to counter.

"Excuse me," McNeil said, getting up, "I need to make arrangements for the warehousing of the prototype when funding is resumed."

Rex nodded; he knew quite how much the development of the _Kodiak_ meant to McNeil, in fact, McNeil might of done it in memory of all his now-deceased friends from the Second Tiberium War… Rex couldn't help but feel a certain sympathy for him.

"Very well…" Locke said, "Actually, let's take a break from the divisive Mammoth, and look at the Spartan… General Nagama?"

General Nagama stood up, nodding, "While I hold doubts, I see nothing wrong with deploying the Spartan to supplement out beleaguered forces in the field. I do not trust that they will be as effective as our forces, but certain modifications, including the ability to become a solid turret at will, or do so automatically if the treads are blown off, should be sufficient to aid in defending the TCN. Unfortunately, the cannon will be ill-suited for targeting aircraft, such as ECG's frequent aerial strikes."

Riggs nodded, "We'll put it into mass production and have InOps design a stronger command code uplink to keep them from falling into the wrong hands."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**April 13****th****, 2065**

**GDI Outpost**

**TCN Nodes #101-105**

**North Carolina Badlands**

**Yellow Zone**

"**Incoming Transmission,"** EVA said, and Coric groaned as he rolled out of his makeshift bed (really, a rock while he stuffed a pillow into his Zone armor).

"Put it up EVA." Coric said as he blinked several times to clear his eyes. To his surprise, it was his grandfather, General Granger.

"Sergeant," General Granger said, strictly formal, alerting Coric this was not a family call at a horrendous time (especially since they were in the same Time Zone), "We've detected an ECG force inbound for your position, I'm contacting Major Kamperov to respond to this, but they're on a beeline for your position."

"Thank you, General." Coric said, unable to keep how tired he was out of his voice, "I'll get everyone up and on alert."

"Be careful." With that, General Granger's link cut.

"EVA," Coric said, "Sound the alarm, get me on the intercom."

"**Intercom activated."**

Coric nodded, now having a broad-call to all the soldiers under his command in the area, "This is Sergeant Granger, sorry to disturb any pleasant dreams, but I just got word of ECG forces inbound. I want the nodes locked down tight ASAP and everyone to get to their battle stations. This is _not_ a drill, I repeat, this is _not_ a drill. Sergeant Granger out."

Hanging up, Coric shook his head, "Enemy force composition?"

"**Unknown, but initial scans suggests a number of Reckoner transports carrying various cyborgs."**

"Brilliant…" Coric said, doing the mental calculations. Assuming these were freshly 'trained', or rather, built cyborgs, without the use of Kane's neural uplink which most Nod cyborgs used, they'd be unused to the cybernetics and stumbling… if these were veterans, he'd be in trouble, while his platoon was certainly made up of a number of brilliant soldiers, they hadn't faced anything more threatening then at most three Awakened cyborgs, and hadn't been in a larger scale you-can-actually-die battle.

He was going to need some help, but until it arrived, he had to make due with his platoon. Grabbing his Rail Gun, he walked outside and started organizing the defenses, hoping that he could hold on until Major Kamperov's Hunter Tanks arrived.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Fifty Minutes Later**

"Sir! Incoming Awakened cyborgs, I count fifty, and they don't look factory fresh!"

"Damn," Coric said to himself, "Alright, we need to engage them hard and _fast_, all at once, so they can't spread out. Warren, Bert, Vikki, get your squads up here _now_, triple time. We're going to engage them before they can break off to the Nodes. Stand by once we've engaged to split and fall back to your Nodes, we may have to do both. Am I understood?"

A chorus of affirmatives, but Coric could tell fear behind their voices. _Good,_ Coric thought as some fear welled up inside, but he clamped it down, _if they aren't afraid, they haven't realized what they're in for… that's what dad always said at least, and now, I see what he means._

The Reckoner transports seemed to have parked somewhere, and the cyborgs were marching forward, parade style, not taking advantage of cover. _So, the mindless ones, or are they just being cocky as hell?_

But there was something wrong… ECG didn't have the numbers or power to slug it out with GDI frontally, if they indeed were trying to skirt around, why would they be marching up parade style, and not using their fast transports? It made no sense.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Coric said to himself as he aimed at the first cyborg, and took the shot, the Rail Gun heavy bullet speeding out and hitting the cyborg in the head. Headshot; and it dropped dead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**New York City**

**GDI Airbase**

**Blue Zone**

Air Captain Wilhelm Blade, a recent graduate from the GDI Air Academy in New York City, activated his Hurricane, as of now unnamed, and took off. He turned his cowboy hat around slightly to give him full vision, and looked around: He was at the GDI Airbase in New York City, and he had to over fire his engines if he was going to get to North Carolina in time.

"**Air Captain, your squad must to go the North Carolina Badlands and assist GDI Sergeant Coric Granger with an inbound ECG strike force. We suspect ECG reinforcements are inbound to overwhelm his green unit."**

"Lovely," Wilhelm said, turning his Hurricane towards that direction. He only hoped he and his two Hurricane Wingmen, Hardcore and Bess, could cover the nodes and the infantry. The rest of his squadron wasn't ready yet, in fact, his small air cavalry squadron was still in assembly from GDI's piloting academies.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**North Carolina Badlands**

**Battle Area**

**Yellow Zone**

Coric ducked as a rocket launched by a Deathless cyborg exploded over his head, forcing him out of his cover as he shot another cyborg. His platoon hadn't taken casualties yet, but they had minor injuries already, and worse, the Reckoner transports had dropped off more cyborgs… they weren't going to last long. If they split up, they'd at best buy some time before the nodes fell, at worse, they'd be slaughtered like sheep. If they stayed, at best they held out long enough for help to arrive, at worse the enemy pinned them down and destroyed the then defenseless nodes.

_Great, damned if I do, damned if I don't… we might be going down, but I'm damn well not leading them to a suicide mission where they can't even hold the line long enough not to do anything…_

"Relocate to the second defensive position," Coric ordered, "Fighting retreat, and stay together."

"Sir yes sir," Warren answered, "Disengaging for pull back."

"Enforcers, cover fire!" Coric ordered, firing another before taking several steps back while he reloaded. The Enforcers stepped back steadily, keeping their machine guns humming as they laid down suppressive fire.

"Air Captain Blade to Sergeant Coric," came a voice over the radio, "Hang tight, air support on the way."

"Might want to hurry, we're getting swarmed!" Coric responded, "Enforcers, double time back!"

The Enforcers broke off, sprinting towards the second defensive position, another small hill before they reached the pass with the Nodes themselves.

Digging in as best they could, they laid down more cover fire, trying to stop the now outnumbering them 3-1 force coming at them. Coric could see his soldiers taking bullets and collapsing as their last line of defense, their armor, was punctured by the hailstorms of bullets coming their way.

Bert took a direct hit to the hand, causing him to drop his machine gun, and Vikki shouted, "Bert!"

"He's alright," Warren said with a quick glance, "Focus on the battle!"

Vikki turned her dual rocket launchers at the Awakened that shot Bert (who was now grabbing his machine gun again), and blew the Awakened and several others next to said Awakened straight to hell… and back.

Several Scorpion Tanks were rolling up, firing at the GDI defenders, missing by virtue of the fact they were moving and out of range.

"We could use a Commando about now…" Warren muttered to himself as he reloaded.

Coric then heard something almost musical: The sound of Orca-based engines…

XXXXXXXXX

"Captain Blade to ground forces, hand tight, air support arriving at your location."

Blade turned his twin Gatling-guns towards the cyborgs, shredding them with hailstorms of bullets, mowing them down as GDI air superiority came through.

"Thanks for the help," Coric said via radio, "I got men down and I need a Med-Evac ASAP."

"General Granger is already sending one; it'll be here in maybe five minutes…"

"Bam baby!" Hardcore shouted suddenly as he set off a Scorpion Tank by hitting the engine.

"Nice shot Hardcore, come on, we have to… Break; break, radar locks!" Blade shouted as he began an evasive maneuver, but his helicopter-like Hurricane gunship couldn't dodge in time, and a rocket hit the left engine, causing it to spin as it fell down to Earth, the two wings snapping off as he hit the ground, and the cockpit was stuck in the earth.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Damn it, Blade's down!" shouted one of Blade's wingmen over the radio, and Coric knew what he needed to do… and it was the least he could do considering Blade just saved not just his life, but probably his platoon.

"Warren, cover fire, I'm going to get Blade!"

"Copy that. Enforcers, target at point Three-Five."

The Enforcers shifted their fire, creating another suppressive wall. Coric sprinted out towards the downed Hurricane, and saw Blade trying to punch the canopy out… his engine was on fire and the fuel tank was leaking… _If the flames touch the fuel… oh boy…_

"Hang on Cap'n," Coric said, aiming at the corner with his Rail Gun, firing, punching a head-sized hole into the side, then he fired at the other. Coric jumped on top, pushing the Hurricane down slightly with his heavy weight (from the armor, of course, as he was quite fit), and helped Blade yank the canopy open as tank shells exploded around them.

Coric took a moment to get a feel of Blade's appearance: A clean subtle shave, cowboy hat, and looking to be of southern (American) descent, he almost had a cowboy like look to him with his flight jacket. _**Looks**__ like another stereotypical pilot… weather he is or not is another matter entirely._

"Thanks," Blade said, "Let's get out of here?"

"Yeah," Coric said, pulling Blade over his shoulder and sprinting, leaping around several times as tank shells exploded around him as ECG forces advanced. The other two Hurricanes focused fire, covering them. Coric leapt over a barricade, and landed, finding his men around him.

"Nice one, Sarge," said one of the Troopers before turning back to the fray as Coric helped Blade off.

"Thanks again for the save," Blade said, nodding, "Don't suppose you have a gun for me to borrow?"

Coric pulled his service pistol out of its holster and tossed it to him, the oversized gun needing two of Blade's hands to aim/shoot. Returning to the front, Coric laid down more fire with his Rail Gun, targeting the tanks entering range.

"Sergeant Granger, this is Major Kamparov. Stand by for Hunter reinforcements."

"Copy that sir," Coric responded, "We'll distract them for you..."

"No need, we're coming in and opening fire."

Coric watched as the APC/Tank hybrid vehicles with tank like turrets on top and an 8 wheel drive charged forward, trading salvos and punching through with an aggressive punch that surprised the ECG soldiers.

"Flame Tanks! INCOMING!" shouted Warren as several ECG Flame Tanks appeared, but the Hunters intercepted and destroyed them, keeping just out of range of the Flame Tanks and blasting them with their Ionized Rail Guns, taking out the enemy tanks easily and when they tried to flee, the Hunters hunted them down and shot them dead.

The remaining ECG forces, realizing that GDI had countered their attempt to burst past a green platoon and wreak havoc in the DC Blue Zone, pulled out, getting onto any transport they could and evacuating as GDI forces pursued.

Finally, the battle was over.

"**Incoming Transmission."**

"Put it through." Coric said, heaving a sigh of relief.

General Granger appeared in Coric's communication window, and nodded, "How're your soldiers faring?"

"Fine, sir, but I have wounded who need medical aid."

"It should be arriving now," and sure enough, overhead, several Harrier Gunships with a squad of Zone infantry and medical teams arrived, immediately getting to work on rescuing those who could still be saved from death's clutches… who were in GDI, that is, as the ECG cyborgs were beyond medical aid.

"How many?" Coric asked later, when they had returned to their posts. Warren was with him, busy with his EVA unit.

"Five dead and over two dozen wounded… considering things, I think we got off lucky."

"Who's dead?"

"Privates Avery, Joshua, Constance, Ian, and Vera."

Coric nodded gravely, one Defender, two Troopers, an Enforcer, and a Raider dead… a general loss for his forces, easily a eighth of their strength.

"Call it trite, Warren, but let's make sure it wasn't wasted… I hate the idea of people losing their lives and it not making any difference, they don't deserve that."

"I wouldn't say wasted, given circumstances, we got off lightly."

"I know," Coric answered, sighing, "And that's what worries me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**April 14****th****, 2065**

**GDI New York Base**

**Command Center**

**Blue Zone**

Coric, who had been called for an 'extensive mission debrief' and to pick up replacement soldiers, fresh from remedial training (and were up to standards with a little help from the training officers), sat down in the small office he had been directed too, facing the desk. The bodies of his five dead infantrymen had been recovered and sent to the families (sans the Zone Armor for obvious reasons), and that was 'out of his hands' now, especially since they weren't in the same continent.

The door opened, and to Coric's surprise, Air Captain Wilhelm Blade walked in.

"Sergeant Granger, at ease." Blade said, nodding. "This is formal and on the record; General Nagama said that you're efforts at the North Carolina Badlands, especially working with what you had, warrants some recognition. Now, the next part is more of a personal, while-you're-here kind of thing… I wanted to say thanks again for the support, my squadron is almost ready and we'll likely be working together, I'm putting a formal request to be attached to your platoon, if you'd accept Hound Squadron."

Coric blinked, surprised. _An air squadron attached? That helps a lot, having twelve Hurricanes and/or Orcas on stand by to help, but… what about other positions? Yes, as of now air squadrons are attached to various platoons and companies, but I wasn't expecting that this soon, and this is a _captain_, I mean, sure, Air Captain equals a ground pounding Sergeant, but I honestly expected to get upped to a Lieutenant at least before someone attached air units to my forces._

"With respect, Air Captain," Coric began…

"Call be Blade, you earned that."

"Alright, Blade… have you talked with a superior officer about this? I know it might be paying me back for pulling your hide out of that downed bird, but I don't want you jeopardizing a GDI company or where you would have been attached to because you wanted to repay the favor."

Blade began to laugh, but not out of malice or at Coric…

"That's why I'm offering, Coric. You're made of what GDI is supposed to be. Not angelic, but heroic and willing to risk themselves before others, that's why _I_ joined GDI, to protect people. And to be blunt, what better place to do it then working with a man who's practically incarnate of that?"

Coric blinked, trying to mouth a response.

"But second, because most of the major companies already have their air detachments, I'm free to choose a platoon unless otherwise ordered, and part of that responsibility is to find one where we work well with. If you're any indication of your platoon, I think we'll work together nicely."

"Let's give it a trial run then, my platoon is still green."

"So is my squadron."

Coric nodded, "Very well, Captain. Welcome to the 501st Infantry." He extended his hand, and Blade shook it.

"It's a pleasure and an honor."

"Agreed." Coric paused a moment after they released, "Considering we're equivalent in rank, I'm assuming that we're only going to be in command of our respective forces, right?"

"Correct, but I'm willing to cede battle command to you, unless you state otherwise. My training was strictly squadrons and how to support."

"If you see something, don't be afraid to warn me, I don't mind someone with a better eye on things speaking up. When do I meet the rest of your squadron?"

"We'll be accompanying you back to North Carolina… you might want to send a message ahead to prepare a landing zone, don't worry, we have our own support."

Coric nodded, "Engineers?"

"Two for ground repairs and rearmament once we run out of spare ammo."

"Not to impose, but I'll be calling on them for my troops as well, we have no engineers for combat support."

"Well, they don't have much to do with those Gizmo things making repairs a cinch."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**April 30****th****, 2065**

**Ural Mountains**

**TCN Construction Site**

**Ural Mountains Hub**

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka looked over the area; she was stationed in the newly secured Ural Mountain site where they were beginning the construction of the Ural Mountains TCN Hub. Basic defenses and infrastructure was set up for self sufficiency (besides food, which relied on GST Fleet using Drop Pods to ensure it got there uninterrupted). Now they were building the TCN Hub so they could properly begin TCN construction.

Glancing over at Sarah, she nodded. "Heard that you're heading to see Rex tomorrow."

Sarah nodded, "I take it McNeil approved the Leave request."

"Been six months of on-off conflict since you've had a break that didn't involve a jail cell," Ahsoka commented, "Six days won't hurt."

Sarah nodded, "I'll pack up then, when's the transport leaving?"

"Harrier'll be here tomorrow with some of the TCN parts; you'll be on it for the return trip."

"Alright, don't get into anything too fun without me though, I don't want to come back and find myself bandaging you up, once was enough."

"You worry too much, go on, you need the break, cybernetic super solider or not."

Sarah gave a mock scowl, then nodded. Sarah was comfortable enough with the fact she was a cyborg now that she didn't mind those she trusted making honest jokes about it… of course, given most aren't so understanding about it, that was limited to few people.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**May 1****st****, 2065**

**Manchester, UK**

**Blue Zone**

"Thanks for the ride." Sarah said, stepping off the Harrier. Although technically on Leave, due to the fact that she couldn't take off her armor (save for the weapon modules on it), she had to keep a 'public face' on, which she didn't mind all that much.

"No problem Captain," the Harrier pilot said before lifting it off just over the ground to fly towards the hanger to land properly.

Sarah walked down and checked in with the Leave officer there, and he nodded, reminding her of the usual and to be back at 0800 on May 5th. She checked the map, (Manchester had been changing, but with the reconstruction finally done, it was solidified), and went towards where she was going to meet with Rex…

_Least we're on the mend, because I would of rather just stayed dead then of had this love destroyed by Kane's 'good intent'._

_XXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Nod HQ**

**Scrin Tower**

**Mediterranean Sea**

**Codename: **_**Prophet's Rise Actual**_

**Red Zone**

Kane looked out as the construction of the TCN Control Nodes, which could control the whole TCN when needed, and indeed, they would be needed for Ascension, and could be reverse engineered if necessary to remove said feature and return it to the Hubs; and he had modified the Tacitus' data matrix with such for GDI, the Firestorm Taskforce in particular, to find. He would not need the Tacitus once Ascension was complete.

He glanced over to where construction workers with heavy cutting lasers were working, trying to cut the Tiberium-hardened rock with practically miniature Obelisk of Light grade lasers…

"Kane," said LEGION, who was uplinked to Kane's console, "I have discovered a method for Cyborg Reapers to be deployed, I have the power to control them in large numbers now, with a little help from Abbot Vladislav's reverse engineering of Visitor technology, notably the Annihilator Tripod, which will grant these cyborgs independent control, but still be slaved to the system for optimized control."

Kane nodded, _Yes, LEGION was forced to abandon deploying Reapers after Mount Cheyenne because of the strain it put on him, but they did the job and he didn't nearly destroy himself as CABAL almost did…_ he looked out the window as several figures walked out towards where GDI engineers were working the cutting lasers. The figures had a human torso, but four legs which, if they 'sat down', would probably be X-shaped. The right hand was, instead of a hand, an opening which Kane knew just by looking at it was where it fired its laser, which was powered by a power cell on its back. The left hand was left human, and Kane suspected it was for a similar purpose to its predecessor: Grabbing enemies to capture.

"Impressive," Kane said as it began to cut through the rocks at a quicker rate then the GDI engineers (who were quite surprised and several had even run away like little girls… and one of the engineers was a woman).

XXXXXXXXXXX

**May 2****nd****, 2065**

**TCN Construction Site**

**Ural Mountains Hub**

**Ural Mountains**

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka, sitting in the makeshift command center, watched the news unfold. Another mass protest was going on, ironically, it was for the lack of punishment of the Blackguard soldiers who had not been charged with anything while Ahsoka had taken the brunt of it… it was leaked that Ahsoka had her life signed away, but the details were unknown, and everyone knew that Ahsoka had been stuck doing manual labor, which most do with Zone Armor, without said armor, making it that much more difficult, even inhumane, someone even called it 'cruel and unusual'. _Well, I'm not exactly human, am I?_ was what Ahsoka thought when she heard someone say something about the inhumane treatment.

She couldn't help but feel touched by the fact they were taking a stand for her when she couldn't… _No, you could of taken a tougher stand,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _but Rios would of done worse to the whole Taskforce and probably GDI in general. We all knew calling her would just result in her calling GDI for the breaks it's done in the past to protect humanity; activating _Guardian Angel_ during Tib War Three, basically shutting the Council down until Rios took power, and the Talon's long streak of subtly bending regulation to save lives, _civilian_ lives._

She turned it off, she honestly couldn't think about that now, if anything, she had to focus on getting ready for when ECG struck back, no one was fooling themselves, ECG would return.

She heard a knock on her door, and looked up, surprised to see formerly-Colonel-now-Commander Louise James standing there.

"Commander," Ahsoka said, giving a brief nod, "Didn't know you were coming."

"I wasn't planning on it; I'm on my way to Hammerfest now."

Ahsoka nodded, "You need the Spartan prototypes, don't you?"

"Actually, no." James said, "I'm going to put in a request for a new hover unit for GDI's armed forces, we don't have the mobility for the Pacific, and those Talon hovercraft aren't strong enough."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes slightly, "There's something more. Or am I 'not cleared' for it?"

"Technically you're cleared, but McNeil would like to keep it quieter."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'll find out the old fashioned way then. So, why'd you stop by here? Need to refuel?"

"Sort of, those Harriers might have fuel for hundreds of miles, but they still need to be refueled."

"Least we can synthesize our own," Ahsoka commented, gesturing outside to the Tiberium Refinery that was set up for such process', "Right now, we're pretty much self sufficient for anything but food."

"Well, I need to get going as soon as the Harrier is refueled. By the way… anything about Kane?"

"Nothing," Ahsoka answered, "He's at the Scrin Tower right now, Nod's shifted their primary HQ from Manchester to the Tower."

"That doesn't strike you as suspicious? Even though we all know Kane called the damned Scrin here?"

"Let me leave it at this," Ahsoka said, "I trust him enough to give him an ear, but I don't trust him as far as I can throw him." That was actually pretty far, when Ahsoka considered it. James however, seemed to think in more proverbial terms then literal. In truth, Ahsoka found it quite suspicious, and had arranged for a dozen listening posts in a perfect circle around, under the cover of advance warning posts because of the unknown the Scrin Tower represented… and Kane knew more then he was letting on.

"While I'm at Hammerfest, you need anything dropped off to General Mitchell?" James asked.

"Actually, there is." Ahsoka said, pulling a small disc out of the broken drawer (not that Ahsoka was complaining, considering where they were), "This has the details on how the TCN can be reversed, he already knows, but this is some extra confirmation. He wants us to be ready, after all."

James nodded, taking the disc. "I'll make sure he gets it." With a nod, she left.

Ahsoka frowned once James left. _She wants Kane dead, but honestly, I somehow suspect that killing him, if that's even possible, considering he's been hit with the Ion Cannon and only needed some plastic surgery, is a bad idea. He's planning something, and if he's building a main base at the Scrin Tower, it means that the Tower is key. There's too many suspicious happenings right now for this to be innocent at all…_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**May 3****rd****, 2065**

**Evening**

**Manchester, UK**

**Apartment #123A**

**Blue Zone**

Rex was late again, and she didn't blame him, Mitchell called him for an emergency generals meeting via EVA transmissions. Turning the news on, she set to W3N, as William Frank was always honest about the news, if not a bit… clumsy, at times.

To Sarah's surprise, William was standing in what looked to Sarah like the bridge of a space ship, as if William was in the field for once. The subtitle read, _GST Tzadik Launched; GDI Commander James chosen to Captain it._

"What?!" Sarah said, surprised. James was a prominent GDI commander, yes, but having _her_ in charge of a _Global Stratospheric Transport?_ Something was fishy, _This is a surprise, she always struck me as barely holding it together, hell, thinking about it, she has no naval experience, why her?_

"The _GST Tzadik_ is about to be launched," William said, "This is an important event as this is the first GST to not be strictly for the TCN construction, but also to _defend_ the TCN. Details are classified, but they have revealed that it involves GDI Drop Pods and Rapid Assault and Intercept Deployment."

The sound of thrusters igniting was heard, and William stumbled, "It's taking off from the ReykjavikShipyards now."

General Mitchell appeared next to William, a hologram, seeming to be talking to someone else not there, "Yeah I know, she's the first Talon commanding a GST, Rex, so I know I have to… William, good to see you again."

"General," William nodded, "So, a press statement?"

"Right…" Mitchell cleared his throat, "The _GST Tzadik_, which, for those familiar with Hebrew, basically means 'righteousness'. Don't know why the shipwrights insisted on biblical reference for these things, but that's their issue, not mine. This GST is not like most, as this one is outfitted specifically for GDI reinforcement parties to be dropped in at vulnerable TCN sites, reducing vulnerability of the TCN as a whole. This will be fleet wide soon, but details are, obviously, not going to be shared."

"Fascinating," William said, "And you say this is going to be fleet wide? The whole GDI First Fleet will become part of the GDI military?"

"That's correct," Mitchell said, "Although their primary function will remain TCN Construction Debris Disposal, they'll double as rapid response to allow us to answer the threat of any raid, ECG, rogue Forgotten, or just simply a bunch of idiots thinking they're tough."

"Political analysts," William continued as Mitchell's hologram winked out, "suggest that this move will restore GDI to full combat function and ensure protection for the Tiberium Control Network, from Manchester to Beijing, and everything in between, both ways. We'll return to discuss the coverage of the new agricultural techniques used to feed you and me, after the break."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**May 8****th****, 2065**

**Tenzai Robotics, Tokyo, Japan**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka stepped off the Gunship, Sarah and Rex next to her. Mitchell and Ajay were talking with Doctor Pascal.

"I understand your concern about the TCN, Agent Ajay," Pascal began, "But as I've said dozens of times before, the TCN converts Tiberium into an ionized energy that is safe and efficient, and can be restored to a liquid, solid, or gaseous matter for use in our Refineries and factories later on, without endangering the planet, while also providing near unlimited power… AH! Commander, General, Captain. Just in time."

"What is it doc?" Ahsoka asked, "No offense, but I really don't like being pulled off the lines for social calls." Though that was exaggeration, in fact, Ahsoka was somewhat glad to be pulled away for a short break, especially since it was with the man who was designing the TCN she was defending.

"Look up." Pascal said, grinning. Ahsoka looked up, and saw what looked to be a plane with a barrel-like nose, the wings pointed back, forming an arrow. To Ahsoka, it looked like an older GDI aircraft dating back to the First Tiberium War (of which she had only seen in museums and historical archives).

"An F-16?" Sarah commented, "That went out of date last century… literally."

Suddenly, it dropped out of the sky, and from the rear fuselage, two legs, the bottom half of the wings folding into hands, almost, but the top half of the wings were like guards attached to hands, and the nose almost vanished, the cockpit expanding and shifting location, the nose now more of a head, the barrel like nose folding into a more conventional shape for Zone Armor. The craft landed with a rough thud, slowed down by jump jets igniting from its 'back' to slow it down as it hit the concrete ground.

"This," Pascal said proudly, "Is what Tatsu calls the _Mecha Tengu_, named after a mythical Japanese creature, a bird of prey. It lives up to its name. Part Zone Trooper, part fighter jet, equipped with dual machine guns only slightly behind a Hurricane; but its greatest strength is the versatility. It can run, jump jet, or launch to the skies as needed. Frankly, if we had a big enough gun and a place to put said gun when it switches to fighter mode, I'd of added it to the design, but for now, it can use the hands to pick up larger boulders, Tiberium glaciers, and maybe ECG's lighter tanks."

Ahsoka nodded, impressed, "So, how does it work?"

"You recall Mount Cheyenne, I presume;" Pascal said, lowering his eye lids as he glanced at Sarah; having updated her cybernetics, he knew the whole story.

"We are," Sarah calmly responded. "What about it?"

"That day, you unlocked a secret from the Tacitus; the final part of an equation… that equation was needed for the _Mecha Tengu_ to work. The formula is where we created its VX engine from. VX means Variable-Existence. It's either a double-sized Zone soldier, or a fighter jet, and interchangeable. We're looking to add a second weapon to supplement the shoulder-mounted machine guns on it. That's why we called you three."

Ahsoka looked it over, "How much control does a pilot have in ground mode?"

"It's like wearing a suit of Zone armor;" Pascal answered. "Full control unless it's damaged, and they can eject if necessary. When in ground mode, they're practically just wearing power armor, but in air mode, it switches into a cockpit seat, like a conventional fighter jet."

Ahsoka unclipped her lightsaber, "I'll put one of these together for you to study, try a scaled version of it… carefully though; it's able to cut through anything."

Mitchell almost threw up, or so his face looked. "Ahsoka, really? You want _that_ to be in the hands of baseline GDI soldiers?"

"Frankly," Pascal intervened, "the training for the Tengu is insane, maybe nine percent of GDI is potentially able to use it, and they need both piloting training _and_ ground training, often having to cross train for it. It's also expensive, so we would rarely field more then one to four at a time, especially at this stage or any time this decade. The technology is _highly_ advanced."

Mitchell nodded, "Still, I have my hesitation about having freaking _lightsabers_ in the hands of common soldiers; especially Rios getting her hands on a squad of these if you do give 'em sabers."

"There's armor composites that can resist it, you know," Ahsoka said, "Firestorm technology, for one."

Mitchell nodded, "Yes… the_ mostly retired_ technology because it isn't portable."

"Why not work on a portable shield version?" Sarah suggested, "Make these Tengu customizable for the situation; lightsaber and shield for up-close and personal, and they can shut them off or whatever to store while in fighter mode."

"The trick," Pascal said, frowning as he considered, "is that Firestorm technology is highly unstable, your Firestorm Trooper, Fullerton, is off the lines now because he's trying to train four others in its use…"

The Tengu's cockpit opened, and the pilot, a Japanese woman whom Ahsoka recognized as one of the Taskforce's pilots, Azami, nodded to her.

"Impressive either way," Ahsoka commented, "I'll have to give it a shot."

"You sure? The G-force is pretty brutal." Pascal said, almost hesitant.

"I've flown dogfights," Ahsoka answered, "I can handle it."

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Twenty-Five Minutes Later**

**Tenzai Robotics Training Field**

**Outside of Tokyo; Japan**

**Blue Zone**

After a quick retrofit for the Tengu prototype (switching the piloting seat for one customized for Ahsoka's height and width), it was ready for a test.

"All systems green," Ahsoka reported. "Beginning test."

She entered a light jog, surprised as it was just like wearing Zone Armor (the only of which she could wear was the Trooper armor due to the bulk it intentionally had). Activating the Jump Jets, she forward flipped intentionally, and landed easily. It was exhilarating; the speed the Tengu let her use.

"Let's see if it can fly," Ahsoka commented as she prepared to activate the VX systems. It launched into the sky, the G-forces pinning her into the seat as it formed, the 'cockpit' moving back into position as the barrel-like nose formed, the wings, from both the 'armor' like part for the hands, and the hands transforming, formed behind, the legs turning into the back end of the fuselage and the wings. The Jump Jet, having been used to launch her into the sky while this transformation took place, activated it's secondary power, allowing it to fly or act as a VTOL engine. She hovered in the air, checking the systems.

"It works," Ahsoka said, and Pascal appeared on the video screen to the side of the cockpit (which, from ground mode, was originally on the bottom right of the suit).

"Alright, give it a fly. It'll work like a normal fighter jet."

Doing various maneuvers, varying from a barrel roll to cutting the speed, turning and igniting the speed yet again, she confirmed it was working.

"Launching target drones;" Pascal said, and four Second Tiberium War era Limpet drones were launched into the air, floating in place. Flying past them, Ahsoka fired the dual machine guns, which had moved from shoulder mounted to just behind the cockpit on the sides. The Limpet Drones collapsed under the barrage and exploded.

"Impressive!" Ahsoka commented as, after doing a strafing run on large crates set up, activated the VX systems and dropped to the ground, returning the Tengu to 'Trooper Mode'. The G-forces as she came crashing down to Earth were amazing, and experience that couldn't be described.

"OK Commander," Pascal said, "That's enough; this is the prototype, but I think you get the idea."

"You have to get this out to the Taskforce," Ahsoka said, amazed at the experience. It was nothing like a normal Orca jet or using power armor (which Ahsoka was skilled with, she just preferred not to use any). It was both in one, an amazing piece of technology, something she knew that even the Republic, despite having a space-based navy capable of working on a galactic scale, did not have.

"We'll do our best," Pascal answered as Ahsoka got out of the Tengu.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**May 10****th****, 2065**

**Firestorm Taskforce HQ**

**Codename: **_**Resolute**_

**Zone Unknown**

Ahsoka, having returned to the Taskforce's HQ for some coordination, the Taskforce's yearly reevaluation, and, of course, a chance to examine new technologies in development, looked down at the other officers. Assembled were the four Seconds in Command; Captains Sarah Granger, Steven McCarthy, Fullerton, and Air Major (equivalent to a normal Captain, so they just called her Captain) Jessica C. Morelli (granddaughter of GDI Colonel M.O. Morelli, a famous pilot who lead GDI's early air force to victory after victory during the First Tiberium War).

"Alright," Ahsoka said, looking over them, "Another year by… and at last, there's no more Scrin advance units, as far as we know." She glanced around, expecting comments. Indeed, the Taskforce had finally tracked down the Scrin leader Traveler-59, and managed to hit him with a Firehawk strike, and all that was found was his garb, blown to bloody hell and back. Ahsoka was satisfied that unfinished business of Ground Zero was finished after almost twenty years; even if it wasn't by her hand. It was a victory that Captain Morelli claimed, and Ahsoka respected her for it, and indeed, Ahsoka made a point of thanking her personally, for what it was worth.

"Doesn't mean we're getting' complacent, does it?" Fullerton asked, tossing a grenade into the air and catching it, appearing lazy, but no one was worried, everyone in GDI knew that GDI grenades had special activation codes to keep them from detonating unexpectedly… so you could play catch with one such grenade until someone activated it.

"No," Ahsoka answered, closing her eyes as she looked down, standing up at her place at the table, "We all know that, theoretically, the agreement is fulfilled." She didn't have to mention which one, "But I want an honest opinion, are the Scrin unable to threaten Earth at this point?"

"They're still a threat," McCarthy said, "I wouldn't call them not a threat until they're reduced to living in caves, just like they began, and without a handy Tib crystal to fuel any new army."

"Technically," Sarah said, "They aren't an _immediate_ threat… but in the long term, I'm with McCarthy, a threat."

"I could go either way, frankly," Morelli said, and Ahsoka could sense she was honest, "What kind of threat did Rios mean when she gave you that bag of Tib shit? An immediate threat; or a threat at all? I say threat at all should be our aim. And… well, I don't want to see you hang, Commander. It's not right, at all."

Ahsoka nodded, "Appreciated, but I'm honoring the agreement as long as Rios does."

"Hope she reneges then," whispered Fullerton, or rather, seemed to whisper, as he made sure it was loud enough it could be heard. Ahsoka gave him a sad smile, nodding, appreciating the voice of support. They all knew the situation, once Rios decided the Scrin weren't a threat, and sufficiently, or whoever was the unnamed authority on the matter, Ahsoka's life would be measurable in hours, not days or the expected decades.

"Moving on," Sarah said, "I think we need to remain alert for more Scrin activity and shut it down, and make sure that Rios knows that the Scrin are still _trying_. Make sure that the threat is never said to be ended _permanently_ until it honestly is… after that…" Sarah looked at Ahsoka, "I just hope Rios realizes how she turned into a monster, and wants to change it."

Ahsoka nodded, and pulled up the various bureaucratic stuff they had to deal with, as well as intelligence; the Taskforce did have to, in a certain sense of the word, infiltrate other GDI divisions, there were even members in the Steel Talons that Ahsoka never told Mitchell about, and never intended to unless necessary. She could live with it, and so could Mitchell; he knew that Ahsoka would have at least one spy he didn't know about in the Talons, if only so the Scrin or any Scrin agents (mind controlled or not) could never guess who not to trust. One thing of note that came up was increased anti-mutant GDI soldiers.

"This is getting' outta fricken control," Fullerton said as the estimate of 4% of GDI's soldiers would be willing to declare an open war on all mutants, Forgotten and non, civilian and military. "Someone has to slap those asses back into their place, it's mostly weak willed privates and political appointees, right?"

"Yeah, but those weak-willed privates are still dangerous." Sarah reminded him, "Even if they're no match for any battle-hardened GDI platoon."

"How much influence they have?" McCarthy asked.

"Not enough to turn GDI from the usual political corruption into full blown scumbags, or rather, those who can't look past the political façades." Ahsoka explained, "Call me biased 'cause well, I am one, but we can't make any moves against them besides an attempted infiltration of whatever organization is backing them and spreading it."

"Most of the anti-Forgotten wear black armbands," Sarah pointed out, "None in the Taskforce 'cept if they're infiltrating, but I somehow think it's symbolic."

"It is," Morelli answered, "Some of the pilots I was training in New York wore those; they said it was 'in memory of those murdered at Sparta'… I think it refers to the Blackguards, especially the ones _you_ killed."

Ahsoka nodded, "I don't hold any regrets about killing those murderers."

"You shouldn't, anyways, _are_ they still organized?" Fullerton asked, "Wasn't part of the deal that those Blackguards are disbanded?"

"No, nothing about them was in the deal; implied, perhaps, but never official." Ahsoka answered, "If Blackguard is still operating, we need to find out what they're up to, get time tables, supplies, everything. We don't do anything notable until we can confirm they're still organized. Once we confirm they are, we get someone on the inside so we can find out what's going on from within. Won't work most likely, Rios knows we'll be looking, but I'd like to get someone in there. Any objections?"

McCarthy raised his hand, "Doesn't this strike as saying we don't trust Rios… openly? She might see it as an attack… and if she sees any 'attack' on GDI soldiers…"

"I'll swing then if she sees it as an attack," Ahsoka answered, "But I don't want the Forgotten to be caught with their pants down. They're easily three fifths of the entire population on Earth."

"I'd, personally, suggest we do low-profile, nothing overt, more the standard check-for-Scrin, which Rios may even appreciate, just to keep our heads covered."

Ahsoka nodded, "Alright then. Any other objections?" There were none. "OK Sarah, what's next?"

After about a half hour of settling the next year's plan of operation, Ahsoka looked up, "Well, there's a divisive issue with the GDI Generals going on; walker Mammoth, or Mammoth Tank."

"I say both," Sarah answered, "I like the Tank better, but after seeing the Mark Two-Point-Five in action; I can't deny the power of a Walker."

"I'm inclined for a tank," McCarthy said, "If only so we can have enough to cover the TCN, Walkers are expensive, but I still prefer them over a tank."

"Tank," Morelli said, "Walkers would be too big for Harriers to carry, and as of now, Harriers are needed to keep our forces mobile."

"Walker," Fullerton said, "Powerful and part of a true GDI legacy, born in the Second Tiberium War, and should have been continued. We need the firepower against the Scrin. At the very least some prototypes should be available for defending key locales such as TCN Hubs or production centers of large scale."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'll pass on the recommendations, which, if I read this right, is both at once, but prioritize the tank as a matter of practicality, and develop the walker for high-security areas."

The four Captains voiced their agreements. Ahsoka ran a democracy as best she could in a military setting; if she didn't want to hear it, chances are she needed to. _Of course,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _weather I listen or not is another matter…_

The meeting finished up fairly shortly after; assignments were same as always: Defend the TCN and find and hunt down any Scrin or their agents (the latter being a focus job for Fullerton and Morelli, switching, to ensure that they found the Scrin sole survivors and attempted scouts). Ahsoka entered her small, official office, which was quite bare and utilitarian, the only things she left that weren't simple and for actual military usage were a few coasters for drinks during off-duty time, and a few photos from her long time (almost three decades, when Ahsoka thought about it) in GDI. There was even a photo from her very early days in the Steel Talons. She looked at it, she was smiling with the rest of them… one of the Talons, and no one had any indication she was anything but one of them, and it was immortalized by the small screen it was built into, which sat next to the computer used for EVA uplinks and general management for GDI affairs she was involved with.

She shook her head, amazed at how far she had come as she thought about it, from a unknown to a GDI folk heroine, ranking with the greats of GDI, including many from GDI's century long history; Colonel Nick Seymour "Havoc" Parker, General Solomon, General McNeil, General Jack Granger, Rex, Mitchell… and so was she. She was practically camp fire/mess hall tall tale in the telling, but her name was _known_, and when she was in the battlefield… Ahsoka somehow had the feeling her name alone was like a battalion of Mammoth Tanks in effect... mostly morale wise, but GDI soldiers knowing that a member of, for lack of a better term, GDI's mythology was fighting alongside them… she knew it was a morale booster, just _seeing_ a hero(ine) in action.

Glancing at the clock, 10:00 PM, she decided to turn in for the night. She was going to be stationed at the base for the next week, and since the war could heat up at any time, she wanted to keep at her peak.

Ahsoka's sleep was, as it always had been lately, troubled.

She opened her eyes, yet again experiencing the same dream; the noose around her neck, a speech that became more and more difficult to hear while she hung there… Ahsoka, somehow, suspected that she was in less then GDI regulation uniform while in the noose, by how cold it felt. Though it could of just been the chill of death…

Her bedroom, really, a small, seven foot by four foot room with a simple, but comfortable bed, the bedside table with a clock, and hangers for any clothes she had with her (such as her under tunic), was, like her office, utilitarian and with few creature comforts. If Ahsoka needed to see the news, she'd use her wrist EVA or the EVA uplink on the computer in the office, she never stayed at the Taskforce's HQ longer then necessary; she preferred to be in the field, so she never bothered decorating the place. _And really, it shouldn't need anything until I actually live here, anything beyond basics in a place I don't use is just stroking my ego._

Well, there was one thing, a small mirror hidden in the bedside table's drawer, but that was fairly standard issue for officers (especially those who frequently have to do Public Relations) and more for checking any wounds then vanity. At least, that's how Ahsoka used it, other officers tended to be a little more cautious of their appearance.

Glancing at the clock, 3:00 AM, she put a hand around her neck; after the dreams, especially ones involving her hanging (which she was unsure why they constantly came), her throat would be sore. She glanced around, and noticed something on the bedside table where the clock was. It was a letter, sealed and _recently_ left. Ahsoka quickly focused, trying to sense any unfamiliar presences within the base, but found nothing.

Grabbing her wrist EVA unit, she called security.

"Commander?" asked a bored security officer via com.

"Anything out of the ordinary?" Ahsoka asked, frowning.

"No ma'am, just the usual re-routed mail."

"Anything for me?"

"Left in your mailbox, as usual."

Ahsoka frowned, someone evidently had gotten access to her quarters, and that smelled like an infiltrator to Ahsoka. "Keep me posted if anything happens."

"As usual," the officer said before disconnecting. Ahsoka opened the letter… The script was almost ancient in style, but clear English manuscript, as if written by a hand with _centuries_ of practice.

_Commander,_

_I'm inviting you to the Scrin Tower for an important meeting in regards to the Visitors. This is behind-the-scenes, so do not tell anyone that you do not intimately trust. I will explain everything there._

_Kane_

The signature was simple, but Ahsoka was surprised: _How the stang did Kane get a letter in undetected?_ She attributed it to luck, or Ajay passed it along (he still had a few minor Nod contacts). Below was contact dates… May 14th was when the meeting would take place. That'd be the last day before she would be back on the lines.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**May 14****th****, 2065**

**Mediterranean**

**Scrin Tower**

**Nod Headquarters**

**Codename: **_**Prophets Rise Actual**_

**Yellow Zone (Barely)**

Ahsoka sat down in the small conference room she was directed too, the Nod protocol officer keeping a professionally neutral face as she was directed inside. A few minutes later, Kane arrived.

"Greetings, Commander," Kane said is his usual, confident voice. "You have questions."

"I do." Ahsoka answered, "The first on my mind; why'd you want me here?"

"Many things. But first… I should have said this sooner, but time seems to fly; I do not believe Rios was right. Do you know why she hates you?"

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, looking at him; "Because I'm different, and successful despite the perceived disadvantage? And not only that, I'm someone GDI as a majority respects at the least, something Rios has difficulty claiming, and she's GDI's leader?"

"In part. Do you recall the Battle of Cairo in the Third Tiberium War?"

_All to well, given you had me captured during it._ But instead of that biting comeback, she said, "Most of it."

"You recall when a group of Nod soldiers, two disguised as civilians, attempted to trap you by using GDI's mandate against them. And you, after discovering their intentions with combination of seeing poorly concealed weaponry that any soldier could find, and sensing their motives, called in a grenade?"

"I do." Ahsoka didn't get how it connected; it was such a small episode of the Third Tiberium War it shouldn't of mattered… _Unless…_

"You realize it. Those two soldiers in disguise were Rios' parents; she was with her grandfather at the time, as her parents left the Blue Zones to join Nod. When you, indirectly, killed them, Rios had a hatred, a hatred that blossomed, in typical human fanaticism, into a complete anti-mutant hate. She wants to see you die for what she believes to be unjust murder and callousness of your duties."

_Reminds me of that kid,_ Ahsoka deciding as she thought, _what was his name… Boba Fett, I think? Nearly killed Mace and Skyguy… But Rios kept that hatred burning for almost twenty years…_

"If she wanted to see me hang, why did she let General Nagama put forth the compromise… a compromise you despise?"

Kane blinked, surprised that she had been astute to him, but said, "Because she lost the moral high ground of justice; General Nagama, by supporting you, tipped the scales against her, she could not act, even if you were willing to sacrifice yourself for your soldiers, without costing her vital support. Also, she thinks it'll be much more rich irony; the conquering heroine returns home only to die at the hands of those she saved… too ironic and unfitting for one such as you."

_Appreciate the vote of confidence… but I meant it when I agreed._ "That may be so, but I couldn't have her killing the whole Taskforce because they acted under _my_ orders, even if misinterpreted."

"Ahsoka," Kane said, sighing, "I know you're not human, and I admit, I am not either. Why do I look so? I suppose the term you are used to is 'near human'. Are you familiar with the story of Cain and Abel?"

"Every GDI soldier knows it; it's pretty common to hear the theories about you being Cain… with a C, of course."

Kane nodded, "While the actual events are… twisted, by humanity's accounting, the rough of it was the same… I did kill Abel, as GDI Commando Havoc confirmed during the First Tiberium War in his exploration of the Cairo Temple of Nod. Yes, I've been on this earth for thousands of years; but I suppose it doesn't surprise you, does it?"

"Not exactly. The point?"

"Ah, I forget that you're of a predatory heritage at times. You see, Abel and I were brothers, but our methods differed. Suffice it to say that I did kill him, and it was vengeance. Does this prove the Bible? Hardly. It was written by humans, if indeed there is a God, well, if he didn't exist, human fanaticism would have invented it."

_OK, did he bring me here just to discuss mythology? _Ahsoka really wondered where he was getting…

"Have you heard the theories about you?" Kane asked, surprising Ahsoka. "The tales they tell… some note your name has, interestingly enough, origins in a country called India, I believe you've visited once or twice."

Ahsoka nodded, "Hunting down a Scrin Mastermind cell, complete victory, no casualties because we got the jump."

"India has a religion, known as Hinduism. It, as with most religion, died out and is rarely practiced now, most of its knowledge and beliefs left for scholars to preserve." Indeed, most in GDI controlled areas had given up Earth's varied religions, partially due to Nod's religious overtones, and partly because more and more evidence was coming up to contradict teachings. "However, some note the similar origin… there was a leader in India, who turned from a bloodthirsty warrior prince to a wizened scholar and even a wise, caring emperor… his name: Asoka the Great. Similar namesake, yes… but the 'H' is dropped. One theory relates to the Hindu belief in reincarnation; some think you're connected to it somehow, just as I am connected to more Western religions in the story of Cain and Abel."

"Which we know," Ahsoka dryly mentioned, "Isn't true."

"Indeed, but some look at a connection that isn't there. Another theory is the one that you use to protect yourself, the mutant theory, but it is not difficult to disprove… in the sense that you were once 'human', though you have, indeed, changed due to Tiberium mutation."

_And you modified my DNA in Tib War Three, holding children at bio-weapon point to make sure that I'd let it happen._ Ahsoka still could see the children whimpering in fear as Ironside, a traitor who joined Nod, held Tiberium mutagen that could of killed them mere inches away.

"However, this mythological retracing comes to now; you are a part of GDI's mythology, for lack of better term. They call you a _Heroine with No Fear_… a title, which in masculine form is one I believe a teacher of yours had."

_How'd he know about Skyguy's nickname on the Republic media?_ That surprised Ahsoka; she thought she was just an accident on Kane's part in his grand plan. But he had a method of finding out stuff…

"What's your point?"

"What I am saying is that you may very well shape GDI in the coming years. GDI is at a fragile point, it's balanced, yes, but it will not take much to disrupt that balance. Humanity will need someone with morals to guide them once Ascension is complete. I do not expect you to try what I try, you do not have the lifespan nor are you enough of an enigma, but you have _influence_. Did you note that General Nagama stood up for you, when normally he likely would of wanted you to hang, if indeed the treason charges were true?"

"He stood up for me because he knew the charges were false."

"That may be so… but if the charges were false, why are you paying for them?"

"Because Rios had all the cards; the council, in war time, as you know, has executive power over justice when necessary. Rios misused it, but we can't call her on it because it was a wartime decision. I don't like it either, but I took the bullet, _thank you_ for your concern." She put some dryness into her voice at the end, to get the point across that she wasn't in the mood to talk about it. _Especially since he didn't say anything to my benefit, or is this all part of his scheme?_

"I don't get it." Kane finally said, sighing, "In all my years, I have never understood why humans, and evidently you too, are so willing to _die_ when it could be avoided. It's as if they want it."

"Some do," Ahsoka calmly responded, "Others are just too brave to let the fear of it cloud their vision. And some are just fanatical, thinking it'll lead them to paradise or something… you're followers especially."

Kane nodded, "Perhaps, but there's something more… Humanity has always feared death, and created stories to reassure themselves… but here's the thing; who can say "Yes, this is what happens" and be done with it? No one."

"Perhaps… but I think people would rather prefer that they'd go to heaven or whatever then uncertainty. Better to have something to believe then nothing, it can help calm people. That may be part of why myths get such foothold, because it offered certainty where there was no proof."

Kane nodded, and glanced down. "I can stop stalling now. Ahsoka, my original intent was not to discuss philosophy, but I don't deny it was a welcoming opportunity, but it was something more. LEGION?"

A cyborg walked in… the same Cyborg Commando that had assaulted Mount Cheyenne, that Ahsoka had crossed lightsabers with… the one made from one of Nod's (reportedly suicidal) intelligence officer, Alexa Kovacs. Ahsoka knew that LEGION used it as a physical form. _I wonder… how does LEGION view it? Kane mentioned in passing that LEGION had a fancy for her…_ She pushed that thought out of her mind…

The Tacitus was laid in the center of the table, on a pedestal that appeared to recive it.

"Ahsoka; the Tacitus cannot remain here. It is a beacon that the Scrin may use to lock onto this tower when activated. It has to be moved away from here, before an accident happens."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'll bring it back to the Taskforce, it'll be safe."

"No," Kane said, "I want it brought to Hammerfest, the Steel Talons are much better suited for defending it."

"Alright, Hammerfest then, but it's kind of public."

"But Mitchell will be able to look after it personally… and you'll have access to it. I have left data within that was not there before, which I shall unlock before Ascension for GDI to make use of. A final gift before leaving, if you will."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'll bring it there personally."

"That won't be necessary," Kane answered, "LEGION has it prepared already, the Insurgent will be bringing it, you will rendezvous with her at Hammerfest for the transfer. I wanted you here to see it personally… this is an eyes-only operation; no recordings shall be made."

Ahsoka nodded, "Understood. I'll leave for Hammerfest immediately."

"Thank you, and good luck." Kane nodded as the two rose from the chairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**OK, with Season 3's preview, I have some major considerations, my readers.**

**A: I'll hold off until some more of **_**The Clone Wars**_** has happened. This will allow a more accurate feel of the characters, mainly Rex and Ahsoka, **_**without**_** worrying about my mess-ups. By doing this, I should have a much better feel of the characters. I'll resume drafts, of course, but I won't solidify anything. This is, due to the length of **_**at least**_** six months, a potentially fatal delay to the story. However, given that I am wrapping things up for the most part for the first 'Act', it may come quite well. However, due to delay, intrest may be lost and thus a fatal delay would occur.**

**B: Set the cut-off to the end of Season 2. While certainly this'll be easier and keep the story going, I feel like I'd be cutting short some of the work done by Dave Filoni and his team. Story would continue as planned, but any cool plot developments (new gear for Ahsoka/Rex, plot develops, to-be-said precognition abilities) would be **_**lost**_** in translation. However, a potentially fatal delay to the story can be avoided by doing so.**

**C: Hope for the best and keep going. This one may be hazardous as the Season 3 preview shown has Ahsoka with what appears to be advanced precognition; I may have to rewrite some moments giving her such advanced precognition assuming it's battle-worthy. Obviously, such advanced precognition would give her a **_**very**_** big leg-up over Kane in any duels… but I would have to justify, if indeed it is a battle-worthy option, how some things happen (Read: The necessity of an Ion Strike at Ground Zero, the Liquid Tiberium Bomb, Kane's assault on Mount Cheyenne, etc.). I have not prepared excuses of why such a major ability would not be useful short of the Chronosphere shorting it out. I **_**hate**_** retroactive canon, or fanon, in this case, because it can destroy the original intent.**

**D: Instead I may switch to doing 'history one-shots', such as events mentioned in the background, and perhaps novelize **_**Tiberian Sun: Firestorm**_** from Gen. Jack Granger's POV or Red Alert from the POV of the commander (whom I, several times, mention to be the ancestor of Sarah/Jack/Coric), or a collection of one-shots of various characters from Cloned Tiberium (Sarah, Park, McCarthy, Havoc, etc.), but nothing with Rex or Ahsoka save for passing reference. I actually would like to flesh out some histories for the characters to establish more history. Red Alert would be quite difficult as, frankly, I've never played it and I hear it's sadly imbalanced as hell against the Allies.**

**So, these are the options. I'm personally leaned towards A, mostly due to the preview shots showing Ahsoka exhibiting advanced precognition capabilities and possibly major character development. I won't stop drafting, however, and make sure that when it returns, it returns as solidly as possible. Leave reviews or send me PM's with your thoughts on the matter.**

**And now, with the unfortunate business done, the author's notes.**

**-Ahsoka's deal with Rios is reoccurring mentioned; as said before, there is little regulation backing it besides executive power of the GDI Council, and the word of Rios and Ahsoka. The idea of 'fight the enemy and if they get destroyed go die' was actually used in a Persitant World RP server on Neverwinter Nights, **_**Escaped from Underdark: Archipelago**_**. It was declined and unused, but I liked the idea… admittedly, it probably would not fit in the modern world, but people are used to GDI having almost autocratic power.**

**-I mention mythology. This is a Nod to the fans of C&C and particular favorites, such as Havoc. The term 'GDI's Mythology' really refers to popular characters in C&C in GDI.**

**-The Mecha Tengu was actually slated to be a Taskforce unit right off the bat and used in Manchester, Paris, and Iceland. I decided to drop it early on, and intended it to actually be in a bit earlier, but I couldn't squeeze it in (though Mitchell mentions it off-hand). It's basically like the Centurion in C&C4, but can switch to air mode and gets a lightsaber/shield, like a Medieval swordsman, except with dual auto-cannons… so Gun damage all the time, but adds melee (cannon) damage when on ground and it closes the distance.**

**-The North Carolina Badlands battle is indeed the same place for the first GDI mission in C&C 3; I figured it'd be fitting for Coric to fight on his daddy's battleground at least once.**

**-GDI's rank systems are as follows, for clarity:**

**GDI Council/General Secretary**

**GDI Generals**

**GDI Commanders**

**GDI Colonels**

**GDI Majors/Air Commanders**

**GDI Captains/Air Colonels**

**GDI Lieutenants/Air Majors**

**GDI Sergeants/Air Captains**

**GDI Corporals/Air Lieutenants**

**GDI Privates/Flight Officers**

**This should clarify things for the chain-of-command. Thought you'd like it, so it's clearly defined. The Air Corps and Ground forces have different, but equivalent ranks. Why? Well, politics. I blame Rios/Riggs (R&R… that sounds like a ship, doesn't it? (EW!))**

**-Ahsoka is, although technically a Togruta (Star Wars universe, obviously, hit Wookiepedia if you have doubts), she is also technically a mutant, as, during the events in which she and Rex were chronoshifted to Earth, both landed in a field of Blue Tiberium, and survived. I attribute this to Ahsoka being a Jedi and Rex being a clone. Rex is also, technically, a mutant, but only due to his Tiberium immunity and growth-slow-down (counteracting the growth acceleration he has as a Clone Trooper). Ahsoka is known, but Rex is, for the most part, unknown. He can blend in, what can I say.**

**-Kane's statement on the Bible… well, that's Kane, but I share that point of view. I'm sorry to those who are religious, but that's just me. If you find it too cynical of religion, well… its Kane, isn't he? And he basically used our own fanaticism against us, so I think it comes around.**

**-I originally intended the Kodiak to be a 2066 or so unit, but EA released it as 2068, this is my compromise, it's warehoused again in one of the mentioned on-off developments.**

**-I haven't decided a good place for the Firestorm Taskforce's HQ, frankly. But that's part of the mystery… and a dues ex machina if necessary. ;)**

**-Yes, GDI grenades do not detonate immediately on impact unless properly triggered. Don't believe me? Look at GDI Grenadier Squads in C&C 3, they play catch with those things.**

**-On Ahsoka being part of GDI's so-called Mythology… that's a plot point and well… she is basically Havoc 2.0, except with a lightsaber and the Force, hence why GDI soldiers love her (sometimes a bit **_**too**_** literally… tehehe)**

**-I admit, I haven't done as much as I should with Rex… I have plans to rectify that, not to worry. I find it funny, I try to start writing out the guys, but I always wind up writing it from a female perspective… I'm not sure if I should be getting some therapy, or if that's just because it's easier to write from the point of view of a Jedi/Commando/Cyborg Zone Raider… I'll take the later, since Ahsoka is the one in the field mostly. Funny, I originally intended to write it from Rex's POV, but I switched to Ahsoka/Sarah pretty fast.**

**-And **_**yes,**_** Doctor Pascal works for both the Taskforce and Nod. Why hasn't Ahsoka noticed it? I wouldn't say hadn't noticed it, more accepts it. And he's only involved with TCN/Tacitus related stuff anyways, stuff Nod could get anyways themselves.**

**-Sarah's cybernetics was a literary device for me, so I could bring her back without making it the very-irritating-and-unbelievable-it-was-just-a-ridiculous-coma. LEGION has uplink to it too… something to keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen.**

**-Again, I have to make use of literary devices, and I tend to use them to make sure people know what I'm talking about. If only I could hyperlink in text… heh.**

**So, a reminder, 4 options for the story, I want honest feedback.**

**A: Hold off the story until Season 3 of TCW, delaying the Fanfic. Drafting will occur, but won't be published.**

**B: Cut off at Season 2 for TCW, continuing it but sacrificing any juicy S3 canon/plots.**

**C: Hope for the best and keep going.**

**D: If A is chosen, do various one-shots on some characters or a write-up of Tib Sun/Firestorm.**

**If A is chosen, the story will be On Haitus. Personally, I'm inclined for A, and I'm starting to hit the bottom of the barrel, frankly, for the in-between, and doing a sudden jump is robbing you guys. Long story short; I need a vacation, but I want oppinions.**


	9. Chapter 9: Peirced Tiberium

_Our world is ending… we stand at the edge of annihilation. Every year the alien infestation known as Tiberium spreads faster and _further _across the Earth. Safe havens are abandoned; Yellow Zones are a thing of the _past_. Now it's just a few GDI Blue Zones and everything else… It's been three years since I left the you, the militia, the farm, my life… but I promised you I wouldn't look back; did I keep driving until I found a place to make our new home, where_ Tiberium_ wouldn't keep eating away at our lives… and I kept my promise._

Taken from the journal of Christian Peirce, date of recovery unknown, date written unknown

**Chapter 9: Pierced Tiberium**

**June 8****th****, 2066**

**Small Village**

**Kentucky, USA**

**Red Zone**

"Christian…"

"I know, Jessica, I know." Christian Pierce put a hand over her, closing into a hug as tears went down his wife's cheeks, "But I have to, for your sake. I'll be back as soon as I can to get you out of here."

"Be careful, OK? Don't do anything stupid… I want to see you again… Jill wants to. Go, please; before it's too late."

Christian nodded, his son, Jack was standing next to him, looking up at him, while the baby girl, Jill, was held in her mother's arms.

"I'll see you soon; I promise."

They kissed, and Christian got into his pick-up truck, and turned it on. He was a 30 year old man, having spent 23 of those years (15 of them his childhood) working on the farm, which grew the various Tiberium-resistant crops; which, sadly, were so few and tasted horrible, and sold for little. He was a Caucasian man with pale green eyes, his hair blond. He was a strong man, after all, 23 years of farm work in a Yellow and then Red Zone was not easy living.

His wife, Jessica Pierce, was tanned, with brown eyes and a rich brown hair. The two were true lovers. _By God almighty, I'll come back for her,_ Christian thought as he began to drive, a rifle in the passenger seat in case he encountered trouble.

As he drove through the hellscape that was a Red Zone, he looked around, sighing. _What are we doing here?_

XXXXXX

**June 10****th****, 2066**

**Evening**

**GDI Checkpoint**

**West Virginia, USA**

**Yellow Zone**

"Name?" asked the officer, whose nametag read 'Granger'.

"Christian Peirce." Christian answered, tired.

"Reasons for travelling?"

"Hoping to raise enough money to get my family out of the Red Zone; looking for work, in short, and intent of immigration."

The officer nodded, "I assume you know the laws, right?"

"I wish I did beyond common sense, education is limited at times."

"I'll familiarize you with the laws. Alright, park it over there, we'll need to hammer that out and do inspection before you can pass."

"Understood." After parking, he got out of the pick-up truck, shutting the door and letting a GDI soldier (whose ID tag said 'Parker') inspect the pick-up truck. _Hope there isn't anything illegal in there, I really don't know the laws… we never did go to Blue Zones, did we?_

After being led into a makeshift office, the Zone Trooper's helmet, or rather, the Plexiglas canopy, retracted into the suit. The Trooper nodded, "Name's Coric Granger, Mr. Peirce. GDI Sergeant." He typed something into his wrist, or rather, a computer on the wrist. _Right, GDI soldiers have 'wrist Eva'_ _units or whatever._

"Quite frankly," Coric said, "We thought the reports of Red Zone villages to be tall tales, but every patrol we sent to check either didn't report back or didn't find anything, so we wrote it off as lies spread by ECG."

"ECG?"

"The so-called 'Enlightened Cult of Gideon', a Nod splinter faction. They're trying to oppose GDI's anti-Tiberium efforts, though they've been quiet." Coric finished, and nodded, "Alright, printing out a copy for you, it'll be ready in a couple minutes. I'll also stamp out a visa, which we'll both sign off on to agree that you've read the laws and understand them, and that you have no intent of illegal action."

"Thank you, sir."

Coric nodded as the other Zone Trooper, Parker, walked in. In a hardened, but gentle voice (in its own way), he asked, "Could you explain the number of Tiberium-based crop in your pick-up?"

"Corn farmed, well, much as I could with Tib, so I had to settle for Tib weed."

Parker looked at Coric, who nodded. "We'll spare you some ration bars; not much, but probably better then that stuff. Welcome to the front."

_Ration bars? Well, better then that Tib stuff I guess…_

"Tell you what," Coric said, "I need someone to deliver a message to New York, you up for it?"

"Sure." Peirce said, "Though the Pick-up is a bit battered…"

"No worries, I'll have Air Captain Blade give you a ride… though the Pick-Up will be using an experimental triple-cable to carry the truck itself."

"How experimental?"

"Officially released, but we're a bit hesitant about it. If you don't want to risk it, we'll storehouse the pick-up until you can come and get it."

"Appreciated. I'll warehouse it for now."

Coric nodded, "I'll write up a letter of introduction for work; I have a few contacts that may be looking for some help 'round their stores."

This was more then he expected; GDI soldiers offering to help a total stranger like him? _What do they want in return; GDI soldiers_ never_ offer to help so much, not since Boyle…_

He decided it was the oddballs of the group.

XXXXXX

**June 11th, 2066**

**Business District**

**New York City**

**Blue Zone**

Having delivered the letter to the GDI base personally, and thanked by the local General (evidently, General Granger), or at least, the secretary he delivered it too, he went to find the place he was looking for. The secretary was surprised that Coric had sent a messenger rather then normal 'EVA link-up', but Christian had a funny feeling it was personal mail anyways (especially since the two shared a last name).

He found the store; a small grocery ran by Dagan Sharp whom he was directed to by Coric's letter.

"'ello there," Dagan said, "What can I do for you?"

"Sergeant Granger gave me a letter of introduction," Peirce explained, "Looking for some work, he said you were hiring."

Dagan's face lowered briefly; "I wish I could help… but someone got the job last night. However; Johnson is hiring."

"Johnson?"

"Yeah, runs a supply shop for Tib-infested area incursions. If you got a letter from that good soldier Coric, I bet he'd take you in."

Peirce nodded, "Out of curiosity, how'd you know him?"

Dagan sighed, "Lost my daughter, Jamie, during a skirmish shortly after the North Carolina Skirmish, he almost managed to pull her out of there alive, he did, even. Got her to the outpost and Air Captain Blade was ready to get her to a medical facility, but it was too little, too late. Coric made a point of personally bringing her back though. She used to help 'round the shop."

Peirce nodded, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright. Here," he passed a few credit chips to Peirce, "Least I can do since I can't get you a job, should be enough to rent one of the low-cost apartments until you get your bearings… if you want, I have a spare room you can kip in for the night, and it's empty for now."

"Thank you," Christian said, making sure he didn't lose it, "That's…"

"Least I can do in these rough times. Come by sometime, no finer groceries in New York, I can tell you that."

Leaving after thanking Dagan again, Christian left and looked for Johnson's Supply Shop. He found it, finally, a dusty-glass windowed place with what looked like various forms of rifles, but few for dedicated shooting… he only saw two or three that were focused on shooting something dead, all the others had some other function.

"_Johnson's Supply Shop…"_ Christian read, and entered the store.

"Well, I suppose you're using the Mark III, the four-point-oh is where it's worth, they finally fixed the buzz saw; 'fore that it's practically a damn blow torch!... eh, wish I could, but their out of stock 'till after the election; GDI is keeping the resources pretty thin, 'specially Tib cleaner stuff… hold on," the shop owner, Johnson, turned the hologram off. "Well what can I do for you stranger?"

"Name's Christian Peirce… I'm looking for work."

"Yeah, I could use a hand 'round the shop. You got qualifications?"

"Twenty-Three years corn farming… until Tiberium took my crops, plus a few years in a local militia."

Johnson pointed behind him to a green-with-beige barreled dual-rifle. "Know what that is behind me?"

"Double-Barreled Tiberium Duster from the Third war. Used them to harvest the Tib when a Harvester wasn't around for the job, it also has a weapon mode that excels against Visceroids… used to use one on infected fauna to weed it out from the crop."

"Still should, you ask me. There ain't no trusting the TCN."

"The what?"

"You never heard of the TCN? Kane's big scheme? Where the hell you _from_ boy?"

"Red Zone 483 outside ol' Kentucky. Trying to send money back to my folks so I can get them out of there as soon as I can."

"I think you should leave." Johnson said, suddenly deadpan and serious.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But I only want…"

"I had two brothers in the 483rd ZOCOM, came all the way from this city to help you Yellow Zoners, and when they got hit by _Nod_ attack groups, in decade old Scorpion Tanks, the few survivors who came to tell me my brothers were dead also told me the murderers weren't from some invasion! Told me it was_ home grown_ Kane soldiers in our own back yard, aided, and abetted, by local farmers. And not only that, my brave, Zone Raider daughter, Constance, was killed in the god-damn North Carolina Yellow Zone by more home-grown soldiers in cheap, horribly crafted pre-Firestorm Crisis cybernetics! I don't hire terrorists, neither does anyone else in this Blue Zone!" he paused, "'cept GDI, of course, they lost their way when they signed up with that madman Kane... NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY STORE, BASTARD!"

**XXXX**

In the room offered by Dagan earlier, Christian wrote in his scrap paper journal. It was dusk, and he had no luck. He knew it was a one-night offer, if only because Christian hoped to find work the next day and thus be able to afford his own apartment, even if it was one in the slum area…

_That was how it went everywhere. The same stories, the same worries, the same distrust of people from the Red. They all, or most of them, at least, distrust of people from the Red. They think we're all Nod, some secret army waiting for Kane's orders to start the Fourth Tiberium War. After the Alliance, I thought it'd be different… but I was wrong, it's just gotten worse. What am I doing here?_

**XXXXX**

**June 14****th****, 2066**

**GDI Command Center**

**New York City**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka Tano was annoyed. Not only had Rios pulled her from the lines after several skirmishes with ECG, when a reported _**increase**_of hostile presence was detected (and thus necessitating Ahsoka's presence on the field so she could lead the Hunter Tank hunting groups), but Rios was also having her serve as a practical personal-bodyguard and not only that, but she was an object of Rios' election campaign.

_Rios made it obvious she hates me, and I'm not going to lie to the crowd, shoot me for that Rios, shoot me for refusing to be part of your election plans; you want a GDI hero endorsing you, well, how about you _earn _it rather than forcing one to under implied threat of death?_ Normally, Ahsoka would have called Rios out on that, as would almost all the Generals (except Riggs), but now… Rios had the council in her pocket again, and this time with enough strength to keep any complaint of Rios calling the deal due (as there had been no reports of any Scrin attempted strikes whatsoever), and frankly, Ahsoka wasn't going to waste her life; she was dead anyways, she might as well try and save what was left for when she could actually save an innocent's life rather then salve her pride.

"Come, Commander," Rios said, almost like talking to a servant or a slave, "It's time."

_I think it's a test of a Jedi's commitment to light just not wanting to beat the snot out of her… she's so condescending and arrogant…_ Then Ahsoka remembered; only to her, as Rios basically had Ahsoka on a legal leash… and not only legal, but could abuse Ahsoka's morality without fear of repercussion.

XXXXXX

Christian walked into the back of the crowd, steadily moving forward through it.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said someone over the intercom, "please welcome the next General-Secretary of the Global Defense Initiative, Evelyn Rios!"

There were cheers from the crowd as Christian looked up. Rios was flanked by two GDI commandos (or at least soldiers in their armor; Christian recalled that Zone Armor was the standard now, so old Commando armor was being given to trainees and Peacekeepers). Behind Rios, further back, as if only there to be shown to the cameras, was a woman that Christian had difficulty describing. Her skin was red, with white hues on her face in a facial pattern that implied eyebrows on the eyes, and almost decorative for the face… or even camouflage suited to some alien world; she had three, what Christian, for lack of better terminology, noted as head-tails, with a striped white-blue pattern. Her eyes were a crystalline blue, and she looked young, far too young for the experience or the various GDI medal stamps on her armor (which was, Christian noted, easily dated from before the Third Tiberium War). She looked extremely young; almost as if she had stopped growing up once she reached a prime point in her life, save for height, which was easily just under two meters, or 5 feet 10 inches, full grown human woman of moderate height. _Who is she?_ Christian wondered. _Can't be that Tano girl… she's supposed to be over fifty damn it! Maybe a daughter or something..._

Rios began her speech, "Thank you, thank you very much. My friends… my countrymen, we stand at the crossroads! Unlike _any_ before! As of now, 90% of the planet is still infected with Tiberium! Twelve years ago we were losing ground by the day… now, with help of the same men we once called our enemy, we have slowed that growth to a crawl…"

Christian noted a hooded man; standing silent… he noted a second one at the same distance in the opposite direction. He began to move towards the first… and evidently the exotic woman he saw on the podium noted them too, her eyes going to the other, her hand sliding towards a silver tube on her belt…

"If there is any hope of reclaiming our planet, it is in the Tiberium Control Network, the TCN, with the help of Kane…"

At that moment, the crowd burst into shouts.

"Down with Kane!"

"No amnesty for terrorists!"

"ACTUAL JUSTICE FOR OUR SOLDIERS, NOT COVER UPS!"

That shout distracted the exotic woman, as if it referred to her. The crowd began to boo.

"Please!" Rios shouted, "It's a choice between trusting a former enemy and losing our planet, I think the choice is obvious…"

"DEATH TO KANE!" shouted the hooded men, "DEATH TO TCN!"

"SHIFT! He's got a gun!"

"OH no!"

"Get down!"

Christian reacted instantly as a distinct _snap-hiss_ was heard, cutting through the noise; he hit the man in the face, grabbed the gun as it fired (redirecting its aim into the empty kill-zone of 10 meters in front of the podium), unloaded it, and hit the man again as he tried to escape, the Tiberium-reinforced pistol butt proving effective and knocking him out. He looked up…

"Whoa!"

"Is she levitating him?"

"The stories are true!"

Indeed, the other man, his gun lying where he stood in a smoking ruin, as if the laser it fired was deflected back (indeed, his hand was burnt)… and he was levitated, as if by a force not by his consent. He looked over… and indeed, the same woman Christian noted earlier, now with a Tiberium green colored glowing plasma sword in right hand, and her left hand raised, was, far as could be told, levitating the hostile assassin. She then gestured back with her hand, and the man went flying into the kill-zone and the Peacekeepers in commando armor rushed out and cuffed him, as well as the man Christian subdued.

"You…" Rios said, thinking at first he meant the woman, but then realized it was himself; "You saved me!"

And just like that, he went from Red Zone alleged terrorist to hero.

"Who are you?"

"Where'd you come from?"

"Are you GDI?"

"Wow, how'd you do that? You some sort of Special Forces guy?"

"Can I get your autograph?"

Rios, flanked by the two Peacekeepers (who pushed some room in the crowd for her), approached him, "What's your name?" she asked.

"Christian Pierce."

"Christian… you just stopped a terrorist attack, preventing tragedy, and you aren't even oath bound to GDI, are you?"

"No. I'm just looking for work…"

"Why don't you join GDI? We could use someone of your talent."

Christian hesitated a moment… joining GDI would certainly work, but it'd be at least two months of training, and he'd need to get authorization to go pick his family up…

"_I don't hire terrorists, and neither does anyone else in this blue zone! Well… 'cept for GDI."_

The words of Johnson, the cruel shopkeeper, came back. _This is my only chance, isn't it? I'll take it._

"I accept."

Evelyn nodded, and gestured to the woman with the sword, "Bring him to the base, would you? Get him signed up and all that."

The woman gave him a penetrating look, and nodded, the sword hissing as it retracted back into the hilt, and she clipped it on her belt, "Fine."

_Not exactly the happiest trooper, is she?_ Christian noted as he was led behind the podium where a GDI jeep was located, with what looked like a giant auto-shotgun on top. Taking a seat in the passenger seat, the woman drove him towards the GDI base.

"Good work on the shooter," she said as they turned away from the rally.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"So, what's your name?"

"Christian Peirce."

"Good to meet you, Mr. Peirce. Name's Ahsoka Tano, GDI Commando and a Commander within the Steel Talons."

_Whoa! That wasn't what I expected at all!_ He was pretty shocked; one of GDI's top commandos was actually talking to him _as an equal_, a commando who was said to be able to take on an entire battalion single-handedly and come out on top and with barely a scratch. He took the chance to get a closer look at her features, surprised that someone like her could exist… flawless skin, a beauty that could only be alien…

"Hey, stop gawking," she said with a slight grin… but behind it, Christian could tell… there was something bothering her, and it wasn't him. He shook his head, _You're married you imbecile, don't let her charm get you…_

XXXXXXXX

**June 15****th****, 2066**

After that, Rios took him on the campaign tour, citing him as "the future of GDI". Having the "Hero of Blue Zone 11" supporting her helped a lot, apparently… at W3N, he was a special guest.

"So, tell me, Mr. Peirce, you're starting training soon?"

"Uh…" he glanced at the assistant, who held the script visible for him. "Yeah, part of a new GDI Special Forces unit. I'm starting training in a few days in London. It's a huge honor."

"So what do you think of the TCN? You've lived in a Red Zone; you know what it's like more than most of us. What do you think?"

"It's about damn time humanity got the upper hand against Tiberium."

"So, what's your opinion of Rios?"

"I'm confident in her leadership ability; she's lead GDI for two years now without major incident."

XXXXXXX

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Steel Talons HQ**

**Blue Zone**

"Rios didn't have _what?_" Mitchell shouted, surprised as they watched the news, "Did he just say that?"

"He did." Ahsoka answered, as the two Generals, Rex and Mitchell, looked at her. "Though it doesn't help him much that he hasn't had much access to a databank save what Rios gave him… well, Rios would love Blackguard to be forgotten."

"So evidently, she doesn't consider Blackguard a major incident, or one major enough to tell her pawn?" Rex asked, frowning. "And now she's keeping you off the lines just so you can train her prodigy… what's he being trained as?"

"A GDI commando." Ahsoka answered to the surprise of the others in the room, "With the intent of him heading up a new Special Operations force… perhaps even take control of the Firestorm Taskforce eventually."

Mitchell shook his head, "So long story short, Rios is using him as her puppet to get some credibility under her belt, then usurp your legitimate command out from under you just so she can remove your last legal defense?"

"Unfortunately, that's what it looks like," Rex answered, rubbing his chin. "Ahsoka, you're going to be training him and a bunch of political appointees; try and instill GDI honor into him, would you? Rios knows the risks, but she knows how effective your training is. This may be the chance to get someone into Rios' graces who can warn us… at the very least, he should know what's going on."

Ahsoka nodded, "I intend to… he's far from weak minded, he's vulnerable because he's new. Coric actually met him on his way to New York, at the zone border."

Rex nodded, "I'll cover for you in the Taskforce; Rios is pulling Sarah off the lines for training a bunch of troopers in Kinross, and McNeil has his hands full with ECG strike groups acting up again."

"Thanks, you'll probably work with Captain Morelli, she's shifting to cover for me."

"Actually, before you go," Mitchell said, "I want to know; why did you save Rios? Sure, Christian would of stopped one of them, but the other man would of finished Rios off, you're hands would be clean; really, save for your Force powers, you had no way of knowing, and I suspect the GDI council would be more open to suggestions once someone more moderate was in charge… you could of gotten out of that deal scot-free and with your honor intact."

"Would it be honorable?" Ahsoka asked in response, "to let her die, to basically finish of the whole family, just because she's irritating the hell out of me? To basically say, "Nope, you're not important enough" and let her die? To, when you boil it down to the base parts, act like her?"

Mitchell retorted, almost insulted, "That's not what I'm saying; if there's assassins out for Rios that are ECG, let her deal with them, it's not your responsibility to protect Rios, that's for her guard and Peacekeepers… Ahsoka, listen. I don't want you to _hang from a tree_ because you chose to protect the woman who'd kill you without a second thought the moment she had a chance."

Rex sighed, "Mitch, don't. You can't change her mind."

"I know… but bluntly, I think Rios needs to be brought to justice. She's behind Blackguard, we know that, and if Blackguard is indeed licking its wounds and waiting to come out for round two, she's basically backing another GDI enemy while seeming to be GDI's leader."

Ahsoka nodded, "Christian Peirce may be our best chance to stop Rios from within."

XXXXXX

"Christian," Rios said to him after the news broadcast was over, "you're going to get the best GDI training we have… but I want you to be careful."

"Why, Madame Secretary?"

"The Commando who's to train you is Ahsoka Tano, and she is known for a rouge streak."

"I heard about that… down in Sparta, right?"

"Correct. Learn from her, you're to be her successor as GDI's hero, show her it's time for her to pass the torch."

Christian frowned; he had no intent of disrupting GDI beyond anything he does in the line of duty. He respected Ahsoka on a professional level, he didn't see anything wrong with her (except for the weird biology, but he wasn't complaining!).

XXXXXXX

**June 16****th****, 2066**

**GDI SpecOps Training Center**

**London, England**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka looked over the recruits, frowning. A dozen political appointees (one of the Christian Peirce), ten kids who only just cut the age requirement of 21, and a half dozen burly men who Ahsoka figured could take a Wolverine on and at least damage it before being mowed down… assuming they got the jump on it and struck at it all together.

"Alright," Ahsoka finally said, "You've heard of me. I haven't heard of you. Let's get one thing straight, GDI Commando training is _not_ for the average soldier. Normally once we get this far we assume you're committed and are going to give it 100%... I'm not."

She turned and faced one of them, Christian Peirce, in particular, "The training regiment may be slightly different, but we're still assuming a twenty-two percent fatality rate, and on top of that, ninety-seven percent of the survivors are going to wash out. If you want out now, I won't hold it against you."

No one spoke up. _Hope they're really serious about this._ Most of them, men in majority (as most GDI commandos were male due to the brutality and long-term commitment it includes), stood taller than her. She did a quick head count as she walked along, inspecting them. Finally, she said, "Alright, let's start simple. You got permission to beat me down, unarmed, however you can. On my mark…" she stepped into the large circle in the middle of the room, "Begin."

They were all on her at once, or rather, most of them. She leapt up and came crashing down, using the Force to create a blast of air below her as she landed, blowing most of them back… except for the burly men, who stumbled and skidded, but were not thrown too far back. But to her greater surprise, Peirce was unaffected and attacking her still. _That guy's tougher then I thought. Then again, he disarmed and subdued an ECG gunman within a second, so he should do well… _She kicked him hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and hurling him back.

The burly then spread out, not giving her a chance to try such a stunt again and came at her, one by one. Ahsoka effortlessly blocked their punches and kicks and sent them flying into another trainee, a different one every time.

Within a minute, she had subdued all but Peirce, who was surprising Ahsoka in his capabilities by bouncing back into the fight. She rushed him, parrying his guard with a little Force assistance to ensure an accurate strike, and punched him hard enough in the jaw that he staggered back… and Ahsoka finished it by picking him up by the scruff of his collar and hurling him into the pile of aspirants she had left on the side of the room. However, even as he landed, he got back up and came again… he had come at her the most and kept trying…

XXXXX

After being hurled back again, Christian rubbed the back of his head. He had to admit, she was, in an exotic, almost alien way, she was a beautiful woman, and self-reliant too, something he respected. It _**almost**_ made him wish he wasn't married.

"High pain tolerance, eh?" Ahsoka asked, holding her hands up at chest level, ready for his attack, "Alright, you've impressed me."

"Sounds like a compliment," He responded as they began to circle.

"Depends on your point of view." Ahsoka responded, then rushed him. He was beaten down, again, but he suspected he held out for several more seconds then Ahsoka anticipated.

"Alright, I think you've passed that test. The rest of you… learn something from Mister Peirce. We start out with a review of basic combat tomorrow to make sure we're all on the same page."

With that, Ahsoka left.

"Wow, she really is as they said," said one of the other trainees.

"I told you she had those head-tail things!"

"Wow, she's really good, she didn't even have to touch half of us!"

"Did you see that Christian fellow? He stood up to her! No wonder why Rios trusts him!"

Christian walked towards the infirmary, yes, he stood up longer then the others… but in doing so, he think he broke a rib, and maybe even a lung. _Bit surprised I was able to stand up to her for a few seconds… then again, she was holding back, wasn't she?_

XXXXXXXXX

**The Next Day**

**June 17****th****, 2066**

**SpecOps Training Center**

Ahsoka watched as they began basic weapons practice. Most of them had fired a gun before… in a civilian range. But Peirce, once more, caught her eye. He hit targets accurately and with skill she didn't expect. _I think he's the only one who's used a gun in a proper battle before,_ Ahsoka decided. _Well, not the only one, but he's used one the most. Bit rusty in his technique though._

One of the young men grunted in frustration as the remote he was trying to hit kept evading his lines of fire.

"Less lines of fire, more select shots and short bursts." Ahsoka finally said, standing behind him. "If you treat your Rail Carbine like a machine gun, you're just going to give yourself away and drain your ammo that much faster. And that makes for _dead_ soldiers."

The young man nodded; reloading, and tried her advice… a minute later, he hit a series of targets.

"I got 'em! I GOT 'EM!" he shouted, excited… so excited he accidently fired the training rifle's ammo dry and caused it to overheat and the end nearly exploded.

"Great kid," Ahsoka responded, picking him up, "Now go fix the rifle you just ruined."

"Eh… what?"

Ahsoka opened her mouth to give a hot retort, but bit it back, that wouldn't help her here. Instead, "Look, you bust something in here; you fix it as best you can. Rule Number One about the GDI Commando Arsenal, you master how to keep your guns working even if all you have is duct tape and spit, you never know when you won't have convenient resupply. So the sooner you learn to care for your guns and equipment, the more likely you are to survive some of the hell you'll be in the middle of."

With that, she turned him out of the range, "And put the safety on." The young man quickly slapped the safety on and skidded out. She glanced at Peirce, who was idle, to her surprise. She walked over to the reader and saw he had hit all his targets with a 9:1 hit-miss ratio.

_He's _really_ good for a political appointee,_ Ahsoka decided, frowning. She hadn't done it before, preferring to get a hand on them by their actions, but this was getting too suspicious for her. She extended her awareness, letting the Force flow through her, and aimed at Peirce with her awareness, subtly getting a feel for his emotions.

She was surprised at what she sensed… _Love. He came here out of love… for someone he cares deeply about… its piercing his very thoughts… there's more to this man then just being a guy made famous for smacking a ECG terrorist in the face…_ She pushed a bit deeper…

And found nothingness. A pure _vacuum_ in the Force… save for his emotions, Christian Peirce did not exist in the Force's currents.

XXXXXXXXXX

**July 8****th****, 2066**

**GDI SpecOps Training Center**

**London, England**

Ahsoka looked over the remaining candidates. Several of the kids and two of the political appointees had washed out after the first of the true brutality of Commando Training, nicknamed the "Havoc's Test". It basically required them to do a normal, everyday battle (in simulator, of course… and if you can call any battle 'everyday')… but with their off-hand. Before hand, they were given training in use of their left (usually) or other hand. Commandos were expected to be at the very least partially ambidextrous, if needed.

"Alright," Ahsoka said as she finally looked at the assembled trainees. "Not bad getting past Havoc's _first_ test. However..."

She pulled up a few images from the next simulation… a recreation of the Scrin invasion of London, where the city had been practically razed to the ground, only just now, with the TCN's energy and the refined Tiberium, had it been restored, "As Commandos, you'll be in some of the hellish situations ever. You'll all be heading into a recreation of the First Battle of London, Third Tiberium War. You have ten days to make whatever preparations for this simulation you wish."

She saw several gulps. _They better be afraid,_ Ahsoka decided, _When they're left on their own, we truly see who's committed and who's not… even if they're all together, they probably won't last long enough for the Ion Cannon to come and save them._

"Any questions?"

"What preparations are allowed?" asked one of the political appointees.

"Only what you can do without technology. Let me rephrase that so it's clearer. You can use the weight room, simulators, and similar, but nothing that enhances your body, we'll be doing drug tests before you head in. I want clean practice. Weapons Range, tank training, anything you deem you might need to survive in a full blown battle as a team. Anything else?"

She got no more questions.

"Class dismissed," Ahsoka said, and all but one of the trainees about-faced and left… Christian Peirce had stayed behind.

"Mister Peirce," Ahsoka said, nodding, "Something on your mind?"

Of course there was, but Ahsoka chose to ask it anyways. _Saying you can sense there's something on their mind makes them weird out._

"Yes… I have to ask, did you survive the simulation?"

_Very close shave… No Force Powers in a simulator besides the extra endurance it can give you… and that left me burned out for a day after._

"Barely," Ahsoka said, "Only survivor too, all the others got shot up… then again, it was McNeil's RAID division, not a Commando training group. Now let me ask you a question. You came out of a Red Zone. We weren't aware there were many Red Zone colonies… in fact, InOps believed the reports to be rumors spread by GDI's enemies to get us to waste troops looking for them… and we sometimes did sent troops out, only for them to be ambushed and slaughetered, after that, we really couldn't justify sending troops out when we were stretched thin."

"There aren't too many that I know of either. I came here looking for work; send some money back to my family. Almost had to return because no one would take me…"

"…because you're from a Red Zone, one that was formerly a Yellow Zone, and most folks automatically link Red or Yellow Zone with Nod, especially the deeper ones." Ahsoka nodded, "I know the feeling."

Peirce gave her a light nod… but she had positively given him something to think about.

"Look, you're the shooting star, and most of them that aren't political appointees are either the minimal age or have seen some battles… yet you're passing even them. I have to ask, where'd you get that?"

"Militia. See, I was part of the local town's militia. Wasn't much, but we had a few guns General McNeil handed to us and some training, but other wise we were local only. Nod didn't get any recruits from us, well, none that weren't already looking to join anyways. We really just wanted to make it to the next day, and well, there's still Tib fiends and Visceroids out there."

Ahsoka nodded, "Well, if any of the others give you trouble about being a Red Zone inhabitant; tell them they can talk to me in the dojo."

Peirce nodded and left. _Funny,_ Ahsoka realized, _He's a political appointee… yet he's fast becoming my favorite of this group… but he also works the hardest. Maybe GDI should stop being so miss prissy about the Blue Zones and start giving a shit about those in the Red Zones… pragmatically and practically, it'd breed a better GDI soldier…_

She knew it wasn't happening anytime soon though. By 2075 they knew they'd only be able to Yellow Zone most of the planet, it would be 2080 before the TCN had managed full effects and the whole planet would be a Blue Zone. Even then, she suspected that 'former Noddie zones' would be considered 'all Nod', even if peace did prevail past the TCN. _Unlikely, but GDI must be ready for an eventual Fourth Tiberium War. The Steel Talons will be, I know for sure, as well as half of GDI's officers. And there's still the '_small_' matter of Kane having killed how many now, directly or not._

XXXXXXXXX

**Ground Zero**

**Nod HQ**

**Yellow Zone**

Kane watched as Peirce trained in the GDI SpecOps center. _Good, he is fast becoming a hero, one all GDI can respect… but soon he'll face the toughest part of his training… and he'll have to survive that._

Kane was, however, disappointed. He knew that by sending the gunmen to hit Rios, and making sure at least one was close to Peirce, he'd become a hero… but he also knew that he'd need Ahsoka in the future, and arranged for the second gunman to be sent, to ensure that Ahsoka could also save Rios, and perhaps convince Rios to _not_ call the deal due and cancell it, but that had not happened. _Perhaps the attempt was wrong… in execution. Correct idea, get Rios to let Ahsoka off of the deal and not destroy the Taskforce… but the execution was flawed._

XXXXXXXXX

**July 16****th****, 2066**

**Simulator Control Center**

**London, England**

Ahsoka watched as the Commando trainees began the simulator. London was, in this simulation, under attack, Scrin deploying in the area. Disintegrators and Seekers began obliterating the city's residential district, just as it had in the actual battle. Several APCs of AI controlled representations of GDI forces attempted to intervene, but were destroyed. After enough damage was done, the Commando trainees entered the battle with the main goal. Ahsoka pulled the microphone up, and gave them their briefing.

"The city is under attack by an unknown alien force. You must hold the line at Parliament to protect civilian evacuation. GDI mainline forces will engage the main enemy forces, but the civilians must be protected. You might be working with some of the mainline forces in some objectives, but do not think you are in command of them, you're not unless otherwise directed."

"Affirmative, Commander." Responded Peirce, whom was, by virtue of long straw, the team leader. "Alright, let's go! Get the shovels ready!"

Ahsoka watched them advance, listening in. They came across a destroyed Mammoth Tank… or mostly destroyed, it had a husk left behind.

"Hey, Hotwire, got the engineering kit I told you to get?" Peirce asked.

"Yeah, I do," responded one of the female trainees, "Why?"

"Get that Mammoth Tank online, Gunner, man it."

"Alright."

Ahsoka smiled. Peirce was taking command and turning them into a fighting force, over the last week; it was he who kept the training going, he had asked them their stories, and shared his, and found skills that each of them had and had neglected due to thinking Commandos were all go in and shoot 'em up. _He's going to shape up into a fine leader someday. I might even invite… no, Rios already has her claws into him… he's joining the new GDI SpecOps… but maybe he'll keep GDI's future secure from there. Rios trusts him, and I don't trust Rios, she's too much of a politician._

She then reminded herself he was the oldest of the class… 30 years old.

As the Mammoth Tank came back online, sans (just to keep them on their toes) it's Rocket Pods, they arrived at Parliament, where a MCV was deploying and GDI Hover Transports and V-35 Ox's were landing to take the civilians out either via the Themes River or via air, respectively. Peirce began issuing orders to the commando trainee squad, all he was authorized to command unless noted otherwise, and they began digging in.

The London Simulation was actually dual purpose… it was connected to the Kinross Zone Training Center, and to the GDI Officer's Academy… they did not know it, but the group defending Parliament was actually all human using different simulators, Commando trainees from London SpecOps center, Zone Infantry, including Troopers, Raiders, Defenders, and Enforcers, who were being trained at the Kinross base, and a trainee Steel Talon officer at GDI Officer's Academy under General Mitchell in Hammerfest.

The Scrin, having deployed their Drone Ship, began bringing in reinforcements by both portals and warp spheres and attacking, mixes of Disintegrators, Buzzers, Seeker Tanks, and Gun Walkers, supported by Stormrider fighters. The Commando trainees were proving effective, definitely cut wide above the average Zone Troopers in the scenario. As more Scrin came, the tide quickly turned. They began to hang on by the skin of their teeth as Stormriders flew over, bombarding them and dodging rockets, and as Buzzers ripped through their armor, making each victim feel the cuts and suddenly black out as the simulator 'simulated' death. But, the Commando trainees were doing surprisingly well, Peirce's leadership even affecting the non-trainee commandos, and they began to slow it down… a thin line between the civilians and the Scrin.

As the fighting continuing, the commando trainees dropped one by one to various weapons… Gun Walkers shooting their plasma in the guts, Buzzers evading notice… Stormriders being knocked out of the sky and falling into the barricade.

Finally, the evacuation was over… but the simulation was far from it.

"Peirce, Battlefield Control has gone offline; you have command of the survivors. Get them out of there and evacuate ASAP. You will have to evacuate via ground."

"Roger that ma'am!"

Peirce quickly rallied the others, and the few survivors began a strategic withdrawal… but they were hounded, and with their Mammoth Tank having been destroyed by a focused Stormrider assault, it was looking like that evacuation would be lucky. Ahsoka glanced at the Ion Cannon timer… four minutes. Four minutes they had to survive until the Ion Cannon blasted the Drone Ship and ended the simulation.

Peirce kept the group together surprisingly well… she heard one of the trainees from Kinross shout something along the lines of every man for himself, but Peirce kept him from speeding off and got them clear of the Scrin pursuit.

The Ion Cannon fired, and Ahsoka chimed in, "Impressive work, all of you, even if you went down. My thanks to the Zone Trainees who joined us for this Commando exercise, don't worry, being beaten so soundly won't count against you, it was a simulation for the elite forces of GDI and to see how they worked with you all."

With that, the simulator turned off, and Ahsoka got a final tally. Peirce and several of the other trainees made it out, and got five of the regular Zone Troopers, four Zone Enforcers, a pair of Zone Raiders, and a Zone Defender out, but the rest of the Commandos, towards the end, had been taken down by various attacks.

As the Commandos came out, Ahsoka nodded, "Not bad. I actually didn't expect you to make it past the evacuation, but you proved me wrong. Alright, get a day's rest, then we'll start on advanced training… the real advanced training… where that twenty-two percent that die usually bite it. I would advise making final arrangements in the event of that."

Some of the commandos gulped. _And be afraid they should,_ Ahsoka knew, recalling the time she trained as a Commando, _they have a macabre of puke, long, sleepless nights, live fire exercises, runs that'd make a Jedi hurl, and worse…_

XXXXXX

**July 20****th****, 2066**

**10:00 PM GMT, 10:00 PM Local Time**

**Sherwood Forest**

_**Robin Hood**_** Training Center**

**Blue Zone**

"EVA, full suit check." Ahsoka said as she tested the Zone Armor. All systems green. She was donning a suit of GDI Zone Trooper armor, so that her identity would be concealed from the trainees, the suit had the standard olive green/silver coloring. There was about to be a 'live' fire exercise in the woods; the trainees were to fight their way through the forest against various training drones, reclaim a base (which was actually a reconstruction of a First Tiberium War era based that GDI Commando Logan Sheppard had run review courses), then defend it against insane numbers of Nod units (which were actually robots akin to the Spartan tank, except in infantry form.)

Ahsoka cocked the Rail Sniper Rifle she had. As the trainer, it was her job to make sure the trainees stayed the course and give them serious issues by acting as a living target.

She pulled up the EVA map, and was satisfied to see it activated, but there was red bellow it; the trainee radars were offline. _Good,_ Ahsoka thought, _that's how it's supposed to be._ The trainees had to get there using a simple map that was stored in their wrist-EVA units; but since it was pitch dark out, and they were forbidden from using any lights without getting deep under cover due to, as they were informed, 'snipers' being in the area (the snipers actually various training officers with modified sniper rifles). The trainees were also in standard Commando armor, but the infrared systems were severely weakened, they would barely be able to see ahead.

"Begin." Ahsoka said into the radio, and the trainees moved out. Ahsoka let a small sigh escape her lips; hunting down her own trainees was her objective now, though she wasn't going to kill them, the recoil from the stun bolts would easily blast them a dozen meters backwards… into trees, most likely, and once that happened, it was nature taking it's course.

XXXX

Christian Peirce, suited up in commando armor (quite similar to that worn by Rios' Peacekeepers in New York those weeks ago), checked the map after finding a small tree, dragging several branches in front of it, and activated his very small light. _Right on track; base should be a click ahead…_ "OK," he said quietly, "base is ahead."

"Why the heck are we using these woods, why not the road?" asked one of the trainees he was with as he stumbled on a branch.

"Why do you think, Cosmos? The snipers are going to be camping the road, and bullets aren't good for your health."

They heard several sniper shots and a few screams of surprise. _Several more trainees pegged down,_ Christian remarked in his head, before saying quietly, "See? Let's move."

They crept ahead, climbing over obstacles and hills due to Jump Jets, which they had, would only give them away.

"Hang on, I see… crud, hostiles!" said one of the trainees, who then loaded his rifle.

"Hold on," Christian said, putting a hand on the trainee's gun, "Don't attack unless we confirm they're hostile."

The human sized targets opened fire with rifles, small pocket marks hitting the trees. Christian returned fire with his Rail Carbine, satisfied to see it hit the enemy and drop them quickly. One of them moved in with what looked like a rocket launcher…

Peirce shot him; it looked like the last attacker. He went up, and found that indeed the last enemy was carrying a handheld rocket launcher. Holstering it onto his back and grabbing some spare ammunition, he kept it on hand in the event they ran into a tank or other form of vehicular armor.

They continued, it down to Peirce and two others… suddenly, he heard a tree snap, and saw it: A sniper. He warned the others, "Incoming!" as he brought his rifle to bear, shooting the sniper, but not before he hit one of Peirce's men, a head shot. The trainee collapsed, stunned by the bolt, but saved from serious injury by the armor.

"Just the two of us…" said the other one, Cosmos, "Hope we get some reinforcement, can't hold a base solo…"

"We better hope, now keep it down, we're almost there…"

XXXXXX

Ahsoka watched Peirce and Cosmos advance steadily and slowly. _Shame I have to take them both out._ She aimed at Peirce, the crosshair coming across his head… he turned, and suddenly rolled, bringing his rifle to bear towards her, sending a surprise volley. Ahsoka activated her suit's jump jets, launching into the air and landing fifty meters ahead. She didn't see that coming… _Right, I can't rely on the Force to warn me when he wants to make a move._

"Stang," she cursed as Peirce and Cosmos split up, trying to box her in. "Orca Four, you're clear to hunt target at _Robin Hood._"

"Copy that. Practice Orca en route, Commander."

Ahsoka decided that, since her job would be to 'lead' the counter attack of various training drones that would come, that she'd pull out… for now. But just to keep Peirce on his toes, she shot at him a few times, missing, but enough that he was forced to move.

XXXXX

Christian reloaded as soon as he was certain the enemy Zone Trooper was out of the way.

"Jeez," said Cosmos; "Didn't expect a renegade Zoner…"

"Something tells me it's just a heavy training robot… with advanced AI." Peirce answered, "Come on, let's get this base back into operation. Get in that ConYard and power her back up, we need the Power Plant back into operation."

He snuck up to the base's barracks, cautious for more hostiles. The door opened and he rolled in, anticipating a hostile. There wasn't one.

"**EVA Power Restored; you are now authorized to use full Advanced Electronic Video Agent functions. Clearance granted by Commando Tano."**

"Good," Peirce said, "Base status?"

"**Only the Infantry Barracks is still intact; the Sonic Emitters, Power Plant, Weapons Factory, and Tiberium Refinery are currently Off-Line. ConYard reactivated."**

"Have the ConYard restore the Power. What do I have for defenses besides reactivating the emitters?"

"**You will be able to call in a reinforcement party once power is restored."**

"Arsenal?"

"**Early Third Tiberium War era, and restricted to basic units."**

Christian did some quick math; he'd need at least two dozen infantry drones to hold off any incoming strikes…

"EVA, status of other trainees?"

"**All other trainees are subdued."**

"What about…"

"**Enemy sniper."**

"Training sniper I hope…"

"**Of course."**

_Damn it,_ Peirce thought, _Can't defend a base all by my self…_ "Can I get a reinforcement drop?"

"**Access barracks main screen. Counter-Attack force detected; 1000 meters away."**

The Power Plant then registered intact, and the defenses were beginning to be restored. He walked up to the main screen in the barracks, and activated it. It read full functionality and could house reinforcements. The screen read; _Reinforcement Ready._

"I want those reinforcements now." Peirce ordered, "How will they arrive?"

"**They will represent air-dropped reinforcements. Stand by."**

He heard the sound of Harrier engines, and a number of training drones rappelled down from the Harrier…

"By your command," said one of the drones in monotone, sounding like something from pre-Tiberium era Sci-Fi movies. "Unit TB-314 awaiting assignment."

Christian nodded; he knew exactly what was going on: The training drones/robots were to represent normal GDI soldiers, except these were controlled by his EVA unit…

"I want all but six drones to set up at the entrance and fortify. Two others are to guard the Construction Yard, another two the Power Plant. The remaining two are to patrol the base and search for unwelcome surprises."

XXXXXX

Ahsoka watched from her vantage point as Christian prepared the base, using nothing but the training drones he had under his command and the repair functions of the construction yard._ He catches on quick,_ Ahsoka realized once he, satisfied with the defenses, went and got a sniper rifle, constantly moving and looking for incoming patrols. More training drones were coming in to retake the base, and they had already been engaged by the (stun set) Sonic Emitters, which actually were unleashed waves of stun-energy rather then sonic waves. Ahsoka ducked as a sniper shot rang past her; Peirce had located her. She evaded another shot, she couldn't sense him, but she saw where he was… and he was the only one in the area who had emotions, so she focused on that, finding the almost primal emotions. She fired, the sniper rifle shot ringing out…

EVA did not register a hit; she missed. She suddenly felt a stun bolt hit her chest, knocking her back, but not piercing (Ahsoka noted the irony of that) the Zone Armor. _Can't take many of those… it may just short the systems out…_ She pushed herself up and got out of the way and decided to let the incoming training drones take care of Peirce.

XXXXXX

Peirce shouldered the sniper rifle and grabbed the handheld missile launcher, taking the safety off and shooting a rocket into the incoming training drones, the oddly-blue streaking rocket disabling most of the drones with an interesting EMP burst. He dropped the rocket launcher and switched to his Rail Carbine, sprinting from cover to cover, keeping shots flying at the incoming drones.

"**Enemy Air Drop Detected!"**

Christian looked up, and wished he didn't discard the rocket launcher; a marked Harrier Gunship was speeding in and dropped a dozen drones into the base, landing next to its central War Factory. Christian opened fire, hitting them as the drones activated miniature Jump Jets, which seemed to only allow them to land.

He suddenly felt something hit his thigh, and he went tumbling into the dirt, his body in spasm… _Damn it, sniper got me!_ His left leg wasn't responding; he rolled around, fortunately behind cover, and grabbed the sniper rifle, dropping the carbine next to him. He hoped the other drones didn't notice him… he saw the Zone Trooper who was taking pot shots, and fired…

XXXX

Ahsoka was surprised to get yet another hit, this time a leg shot, which managed to pierce the armor and short out the system, save for the EVA unit, which was immune to the stun bolts.

"Stang…" Ahsoka said to herself, "EVA, pull up the view screen, I want to see how Peirce is doing, and power the suit up ASAP." _This is why I never use power armor… the systems get shorted out, you're a sitting duck unless you can somehow get it off._

EVA complied, and Ahsoka received real-time imagery, Peirce had recovered and was toughing it out, limping, but still fighting, and managed to, with a combination of cunning tactics, luck, and a determination admired within GDI, managed to stop the hordes.

_That,_ Ahsoka decided as the last training drone collapsed, _is a Commando._

XXXXXX

**One Week Later**

**July 27****th****, 2066**

**SpecOps Training Center**

**London, England**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka looked up as General McNeil walked in.

"General?" Ahsoka asked, putting the book she was reading away.

"Commander," McNeil said, nodding, "It goes full circle, doesn't it?"

Ahsoka nodded, "I still remember how hard you pushed me. I'm even more surprised how you forced me to well… Force my way through." McNeil was recently told of her origin as it became increasingly clear Ahsoka may have to go underground to protect humanity, and the need for, if such was not an option, as many people possible being prepared. McNeil had always been a trustworthy general, and Mitchell figured it was 'About damn time Mack got told.'

"Though I suppose we both had unfair advantages."

Ahsoka frowned, "How so? Far as I know, I'm the only one who has non-human abilities."

"This… is something I haven't even told GDI, but you told me something much worse, so I feel like I should tell you." He inhaled, "Almost seventy years ago, back in 1997, during the First Tiberium War, I was born in a Nod medical colony in Macedonia. My parents and older brother, barely two at the time, were captured by Nod for our 'unique DNA'. Funnily enough, it was the same facility where my Nod opposite in Tib War Two, Anton Slavik, was born, though his parents were actually part of the staff."

Ahsoka didn't get where it was going…

"After a week or two, Nod realized I had the perfect DNA for Tiberium enhancement. My parents disagreed…" he inhaled, "They were killed by Nod. I'm not sure what Nod did, but they left my brother, Jake, alive at the time. They did _something_ to me… they intended me to become the perfect soldier; a commander who can lead from the front. Then-Commander James Solomon liberated the facility a year later, and I spent my early life in GDI military bases, working, once I was old enough, as sort of the messenger boy, and then they sent me to a GDI built and maintained school, unofficially a military academy, but hey, it was school."

Ahsoka blinked, feeling the same sympathy she had for Rex and all the clones. _Wow… I… wow._

"So long story short, like you, I was changed by Nod… and well, that was what made me such a brilliant commando when I got a chance into the battlefield and I was a commander in the air."

"Thank you, for telling me." Ahsoka said as tactfully as she could manage. "You… you didn't have to, even if you knew mine."

"It was only fair; you kept your secret from GDI, just as I kept mine. I didn't want to get studied… and well, when they think Mitchell isn't listening, the eggheads _do_ share words about studying you, or your dead body, whichever works."

"I had a funny feeling they would; shame they won't get the chance."

"Why?"

"Once I'm cold, what's left is getting cremated. I don't like the idea of being studied in a lab without my consent."

"I know what you mean… I can still see it… vats of green… sharp needles… monotone-like scientists…" He shook his head. "So, how's the new crop doing?"

"Basically down to Peirce for trainees… and I think he might have a unique _disadvantage_."

"What do you mean?"

"You know I can sense things… well, I tried that on Peirce… all I could sense was emotion… save for that, nothing. It was as if he was… deaf… blind… a pocket of vacuum."

McNeil frowned, "You don't think that's why he's doing so well, do you?" It was not a question, but a statement.

"Unfortunately, it may be, but it doesn't make sense… almost every GDI soldier, knowingly or, almost wholly, unknowingly, have a number of midi-chlorians, the scientific side to my… ideology, for lack of a better term." _OK, that's probably putting it wrongly, but GDI's society is pretty non-religious, and I don't blame them given how Nod is super-religious._ "Here's the thing, I got a DNA sample and rewired a scanner… he has absolutely none. Not even the fraction or remnants of one. A hole in reality, if you will."

McNeil frowned, "Didn't our studies on ECG cyborgs show they all had some, but most were injured?"

"That's right, the midi-chlorians indirectly support the systems. The thing is though… Sarah still has her personality, and I don't like talking behind her back, but I want your perspective. They're symbiotic, so if she died, they'd die off as well; or at least fade... But here's the thing, she mentioned that Kane said it was a 'near thing that she was restored'… Midi-chlorians are an unknown, even amongst my… old friends," she was cautious not to mention the Jedi Order, "But assuming they're memories and…" she trailed off, wondering how to term it.

"Her soul, for lack of a better term?"

"Yeah."

"Assuming they _are_, that opens a lot of dangerous things… if Kane's able to manipulate them, and he has both our DNA as reference, could he theoretically make… an army of Force-wielders?"

"At the very least Force-Sensitive, which is a dangerous thing. Increased reaction time, agility… basically, above the average soldier, and a soldier who knows it and can use it to a degree could probably give a commando a run for his or her money."

McNeil shook his head, "Unlikely… but if I was a subject of a super-soldier program…"

"Nod is researching still more super-soldier, or at least elite soldier, programs."

"Agreed. Let's keep our eyes open."

Ahsoka paused, then opened her drawer and pulled out one of GDI's blood testing tools. "General, out of curiosity, do you mind if I check?"

McNeil frowned a moment, "Alright. I'm curious myself."

Ahsoka gently put the shot (for lack of better term) to his arm, and pressed, pulling out a blood sample. McNeil winced slightly, but otherwise wasn't affected. Ahsoka put the sample into the scanning range of the computer she had (which Ajay had arranged to be sent over from the Black Forest base).

"Wow." Ahsoka commented as the (rough) number reading came up, "I'm surprised I didn't notice it…"

"What do you mean?" McNeil asked cautiously.

"Almost 8,000… that's easily Force sensitive… not quite the average Jedi though, if I recall right."

McNeil paused, wondering, then put on his characteristically cocky smile and said, "So basically, I can start shoving people around with my mind?"

Ahsoka grinned at him, "Not without a decade or two of training… but it might explain how you're still moving around when you're what… almost sixty-five years old and you move like your twenty two?"

"I don't think I'll complain. So in layman's terms, I'm basically a super-human?"

"Hardly," Ahsoka answered, "You're just… different. High count doesn't mean automatically better, if Sarah's any indication, I'd say it just opens up another path."

"I'm too old though, aren't I? Doesn't the training have to be done really young?" Ahsoka could tell McNeil might actually be… disappointed.

"Yeah," Ahsoka answered, frowning, "At least, that's what's usually done. I've never really wondered why. I do want to check other GDI commandos, finding out who has the potential may be useful knowledge… if my theory is right, Force sensitivity is an indirect and only partial necessity for GDI's commandos. Almost all of them can take on large numbers and seem to be supernatural at times, though most attribute it to the training, I somehow think there may be something more."

"You sure it's that specific? I mean, look at Peirce, you said yourself, he'd be the anomaly."

"I know, that's why I said partial."

"Oh, before I forget, I want to meet this Mister Peirce in a training mission, to see how he does against a proper GDI commando, even if I'm rusty."

"Just tell me when, I'm sure he'd be _happy_ to face an experienced veteran."

"You just want to see an old man get his ass kicked, don't you?"

Ahsoka gave him an innocent smile, "Now, General, why would I want to see that?"

XXXXXX

**2 Months Later**

**September 4****th****, 2066**

**GDI SpecOps Training Center**

**London, England**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka was glad that, at long last, it was over. Training the commandos, now only Christian Peirce due to his amazing survival rate and skill; had taken a toll on her. Morally, how hard she had to push them, so close she knew that if she pushed some of them further, they would die (and indeed, several had permanent disabilities from the training's brutality that normally they'd of died from if Ahsoka didn't call it). Physically, those who made it farther were able to deal some notable wounds, even managed to break two of Ahsoka's fingers, during various hand-to-hand and semi-live fire bouts. And third, it was tiring to train Commandos due to the overkill that was required to turn them into battle-hardened soldiers.

Evelyn Rios had shown up for her pawn. Ahsoka wasn't disappointed, in the time she spent training him, she knew that at the very least there was a professional level of respect between the two. Unfortunately, despite the effort, the Taskforce was unable to locate Christian's home town, mostly due to Tiberium infestation and ECG strikes occupying them. She broke the news the Christian, but he accepted… she suspected he expected some delays; and also mentioned that he relied on too many landmarks to find places in the Red, and that he'd need time from the lines himself to get there… time he would not have in the immediate future.

"_Captain_ Christian Peirce," Rios said, surprising Ahsoka (as all Commandos, by default unless of higher rank previously, were Lieutenants), "You've completed GDI's most intense training; I am proud to be able to see you made the end, and indeed, you are ready. Do you accept the duties of a Captain and GDI Commando?"

"I do," Christian answered.

Rios was satisfied, nodding, whispered something to him (all Ahsoka could hear was 'Taskforce' however), and left, but not without acknowledging Christian.

Ahsoka walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Nice work, _Captain_ Peirce. Not many get through Commando training… to get through that is something that'll never leave you. How's your foot doing?"

"Better since training ended, thanks for asking."

Ahsoka nodded, as indeed, she was the one who injured his foot (or more accurately, broke it) during an unarmed all-out sparring match designed to force Christian to injure her and subdue her (and in the past, _kill_ had happened, usually the trainer on the trainee). While he only managed to break two of her fingers (which were almost healed up fully, once Ahsoka had a little time and spending a couple nights in a Jedi healing trance), he managed to give her such a run for her money, she was sure that in a fully armed battle and no holds barred, he would probably give her some serious injury, if not kill her because she couldn't sense his next move.

"So," Ahsoka asked, "Rios give you any indication of what unit you're going to be assigned to?"

"She said she's putting together the SpecOps strike force as we speak. She wants to eventually mold it into an elite GDI taskforce."

Ahsoka nodded, keeping concern from her face. She knew that Rios wanted Ahsoka out of GDI, and if Christian did well enough, she could potentially call her out of the Taskforce and put Christian in charge to replace her. While Peirce eventually becoming a leader would not be a bad thing, she could always transfer to the Steel Talons properly; she was concerned that Rios seemed to be hell bent on removing Ahsoka from any prestigious position within GDI… as if trying to leave Ahsoka with nothing to make her resist Rios leading her to the gallows…

XXXXX

**September 12****th****, 2066**

**Firestorm Taskforce Base**

**Codename: **_**Mirage**_

**Black Forest, Germany**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka looked over the Mecha Tengu squadron of four deploying in another test. Black Forest was where the Taskforce kept its headquarters… at least its public headquarters. Once a laboratory of Albert Einstein, it was now serving as a place for the Taskforce to deploy from publically, and conduct field tests that couldn't be done within the main base, _Resolute_ (whose location was unknown outside the Taskforce) and a key part of keeping it that way was no giant field tests.

"OK Commander," Ajay said, wearing a heavy winter coat over his uniform, carrying an electronic readout on a small handheld, "Sandstorms are coming online now…"

Several hover vehicles, very roughly rectangular in shape, save for diagonal curves on the edges, a cockpit on the top, and two banks of missile launchers on top behind the cockpit, appeared from the base's War Factories. Ahsoka nodded as she watched the field testing begin. They sped around; going through several obstacle courses designed to test their 'cliff jump' capability and maneuverability, then unleashed their rockets on various target dummies, blowing all to bits.

Ahsoka sighed as the tests finished, feeling yet another disturbance in the Force. The tests themselves ended successfully, the Sandstorm was ready to integrate into GDI's arsenal properly, and with it supplementing the Hunter Tank, GDI now had the mobility to defend multiple TCN sites in an area with fewer troops… assuming, of course, that GDI chose to. No, what disturbed her seemed to be coming farther away, like a crisis hanging over humanity's heads… a major one. She had felt such before, sometimes before major battles, other times just nerves… but she was always alert when she felt it, not wanting to be caught off guard, at all.

Her wrist EVA beeped. "Tano here," Ahsoka said after turning it's receiver on.

"Commander, Priority-One communication from Manchester."

Ahsoka nodded, "I'll be up there shortly." She nodded to Ajay, who nodded back.

In the communications suite, Ahsoka approached the primary transmitter, a large holographic projector which could double as a map of a battlefield. Rios stood in the center, and on the side, as if from another source, Christian Peirce. Kane was also present, and next to him, the Legendary Insurgent.

"Ladies, Gentlemen." Rios said, "I've received a communication from Gideon, after the loss of five battalions to Commander Louise James, he's suing for peace, and wants to rejoin the Brotherhood of Nod, claiming he has seen the error of his ways."

Kane immediately spoke up, "General-Secretary, I highly doubt his intent. Meeting with him is foolhardy; you of all people should know what he is capable of."

"Perhaps, Kane." Rios said, "But if it is a true attempt at peace, we cannot afford to squander it. We will take precautions and deploy a fully operational base at the meeting place; Chicago."

Ahsoka did some quick calculations mentally; Chicago was in a Red Zone, and they needed to deploy a TCN Hub there as soon as possible to begin reclamation in the Great Lakes area of North America. However, it was a fairly open battlefield, the city having long since been turned to very-low ruins. No one inhabited it. The Lakes were too thick for Tiberium to dry up, and most of the lake was now a green, toxic sludge that ships couldn't travel; even Hover Vehicles had to be careful. A base deployed there was in GDI's advantage, but it was deep enough in ECG territory that they'd be equal, if GDI did indeed deploy a base.

"Your orders, Madam Secretary?" Christian asked, he was currently in Manchester awaiting his first assignment, as was his battalion.

"You will go in ahead and deploy a fully operational base; Commander Tano will assist you and provide you with soldiers. You will command this operation."

"Ahem." The Insurgent said, "I believe the Commander outranks the Captain, General-Secretary. This mission should, if you don't intend to bring someone else into the operation, under her command."

Ahsoka glanced at Christian; he seemed a tad cornered by it. "I'll give him the lead," she finally said, "But I'm not going to give him direct command of any Taskforce soldiers. I want to see him in the field, he's brilliant in the simulators, but I haven't seen him in action."

Christian gave her a nod of appreciation, but Rios gave Ahsoka a cross look. "So be it. Have your forces at Chicago by 0900 tomorrow."

Glancing at the clock as Rios' hologram winked out, Ahsoka knew she had just enough time, if she started preparing now, to get there in time, but Christian would beat her there, unless she pulled soldiers from other Taskforce locations and travelled herself.

"Kane," Ahsoka asked, "You deploying any of your forces?"

"The General Secretary will not be dissuaded; I will have teams on stand-by to assist. I would ask General McNeil to do the same with his forces."

Christian nodded, "Right. I'll see you at Chicago." His hologram winked out.

"Ahsoka, I would trust Peirce, he is not like Rios."

"No," Ahsoka answered, "He isn't, that's why I didn't put up a stronger case against him leading, because he is not like Rios at all. But she wants him to be her poster boy. He _is_ her poster boy. And she wants him to eventually replace the aging General Riggs in rank, and myself in GDI's mythology. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a trap we can't escape from."

"Agreed." Kane said, "I trust you will take precautions? Rios may order you to serve as literal cannon fodder."

"Rios hates me and any who hail me as a hero, so I'm not surprised. I'm contacting Mitchell; McNeil available now, this mission calls for a Generals' oversight, easily. Mitchell can put it to McNeil."

Kane nodded, "Very well, it would be pleasant not to have McNeil shooting me in the back for once... or impaling me. I will travel there to, if necessary, save Rios. Good luck, Commander."

Kane and the Insurgent winked out, and Ahsoka began preparation.

This was going to be interesting.

XXXXXXX

**GDI Forward Base (Under Construction)**

**September 14****th****, 2066**

**Chicago, Illinois**

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka nodded as the Component Towers deployed around the Taskforce's section of the base. Peirce was commanding his GDI battalion well, having set up base defenses somewhat strategically around his portion of the base, the east side of a docking, where a revitalized GDI Aircraft Carrier was waiting. Firestorm Taskforce units were on the west side, and, if ECG did indeed betray them, would get the brunt of it.

"Commander," Peirce asked from his MCV, "I need some assistance on lay out."

"Don't worry overmuch about it," Ahsoka answered via her wrist EVA, she was inspecting the defenses herself, "But I'll be over shortly to help out. Ajay, take the horn and get the base assembled."

"Copy that, Commander." Ajay answered, blinking off of Ahsoka's EVA unit. Ahsoka walked from the west side to the east. Christian had established a standard GDI field base, which all MCVs were equipped to deploy. Harvesters were bringing in extra Tiberium crystals for refinement into ammunition and other parts for more defenses, fuel, and ammunition. Behind the revitalized GDI Aircraft Carrier (where the talks would actually commence), the first parts of the TCN Hub was being laid out by the engineers. _We'll probably wind up ceding this early,_ Ahsoka realized, _if this is the trap we know it is._

She entered Christian's MCV, and he nodded. "How is it, Commander?"

"Not bad for your first deployment in the field," Ahsoka answered, honestly, "There are some problems though. You're deploying the Guardian Cannons haphazardly and in pairs, their arcs of fire are frontal because of it, if you put some space between them, there would be some room for them to arc, allowing each cannon to cover more area." She pointed to it as she explained, "The Watchtowers have a harder time with this problem, and our AA batteries are fortunate enough not to worry about it. Rios clear you for Sonic Emitters?"

"Yeah, she gave me four modules to deploy those."

Ahsoka nodded, "I have four of my own from the Taskforce; let's coordinate how we deploy them, they're our most effective anti-ground weapon."

"**ECG Strike Force incoming."** EVA said.

"Composition?" Christian asked.

"**Large numbers of cybernetic Infantry, a Tank Division, and an accompanying air force."**

"Sounds like Gideon's convoy. Leave it to him not to come unescorted to a peace meeting." Ahsoka dryly commented, "Alright, I need to get back to my forces. Are you confident you can hold your own?"

Christian nodded, "I am."

Ahsoka returned the nod, "Good luck."

"You too."

XXXXXX

Ahsoka watched as Gideon's hover transport approached the GDI carrier… somehow, she could sense a trap. Most of Gideon's forces were hanging on the other side, to the north west. She focused, letting the Force flow through her, and she focused her awareness on the transport… almost nothing. Not even drivers, far as could be told, just the automated, thick, near copy-paste minds of cyborgs controlled by a central computer… or the oscillation of energy from a droid/robot. She activated the communications link, "General Secretary, I don't sense Gideon aboard."

"Hush, Commander, I don't care what you 'sense', it isn't concrete proof." Rios responded coldly.

"I would trust her senses," Kane said, he was also present, "They are quite accurate, it is part of why Nod Militants and even elite soldiers had difficulty hitting her, she could sense motive and their aim ahead of time, just enough to dodge or to parry the attack."

"Regardless, Gideon may just be cautious, I would be cautious too in his place. Do not worry, 'Commander', if it is a trap, we are quite prepared for that. Hence why Captain Peirce is here."

"I feel _so_ appreciated." Ahsoka responded dryly before turning the link to LEGION directly, and not on the command channel, "LEGION, you're the cyborg master, what can you tell?"

"Scans confirm no nuclear radiation or any form of insanely-high-explosives. Probability of a favorable outcome with Gideon's forces is exceedingly high."

"Define 'favorable outcome.'" Ahsoka responded, recalling a scene from an semi-documentary movie (which was based off of Nod and GDI databanks and the scene in question was recreated verbatim) which was focused on the life of Nod's leading General in the Second Tiberium War, Anton Slavik.

"To quote my predecessor, 'They all die'."

"I'd prefer capturing some of them; if possible… there might be conscripts in the ranks…" Indeed, she was now sensing something troubled, like forced to do something. She snatched that, closing her eyes, entering a trance as LEGION's voice was drowned out… it was moving… underground. Snapping out of the trance, "LEGION, EVA, subterranean scans, pronto, highest frequency."

"ECG Subterranean presence confirmed, Commander."

"**I was about to say such, LEGION."** EVA chimed in a second later, the computer-generated voice almost offended (or as offended as a tactical AI with little personality can be).

Opening the link to cover McNeil, who was overseeing from the _GST Methuselah, _Ahsoka explained, "General McNeil, ECG subterranean units detected, do you have your RAID ready?"

"Ready when needed, Commander. Thanks for the heads up. Rios know?"

"LEGION is filling Kane in now."

"Right. Hope the kid does as well as you say he will."

Gideon's transport arrived, and GDI soldiers went in to meet…

Ahsoka watched the security footage unfold; they were met by cyborgs who began their own sweep, removing several small booby traps that, at worst, would of left Gideon with a small splat of red 'paint' on his shirt. Afterwards, someone who _looked_ like Gideon appeared. Ahsoka focused on him, extending her awareness again, feeling the drain beginning to take a toll, _Only one more shot after this,_ Ahsoka reminded herself, _then it's recovering and hoping I don't need to fight…_

It wasn't Gideon; it was someone who was a perfect con-man, save for the fact that he did not have any fear, and Gideon would have had fear, if what Kane, in his InOps databank entry, said was true about him. Gideon was always fearful around GDI, for it was a group of renegade GDI soldiers who actually occupied his town, only to be saved by, ironically enough, Ahsoka and Rex, who arrived with some of the Steel Talons and liberate it before the renegade soldiers could soak the luxury of the slave-labor the renegades were about to implement… he also feared Ahsoka's abilities, having seen her in action on many, many recordings. _I don't blame him,_ Ahsoka thought, _I'd be pretty terrified if I had to fight myself with nothing more then a blaster or a rifle._

Ahsoka was about to touch the communications link and warn Rios when, as the impostor arrived and was cleared of carrying weapons by GDI soldiers (while ECG cyborgs did the same for Kane and Rios), said, "I apologize for the deception, but the presence of GDI Commando Tano is too great a risk for Gideon to take. I am here to negotiate in his place."

"How will he view the proceedings?"

One of the more salty soldiers then said, "Hey… what's this camera doing here… ah frick, embedded in his neck…"

"A cybernetic procedure, he can remotely contact me, and only I shall hear it, and he sees through the camera which your soldier has found."

Rios nodded, "So in essence, you are his voice, ears, and eyes. Very well. Let's begin."

Ahsoka turned towards the tactical map as the proceedings went on, from War Crimes to how to handle the TCN, were there was polar opposition due to GDI wanting to try certain leaders of War Crimes while Gideon refused as they were some of his top advisors (though his hands were, from a certain point of view, clean). The detected subterranean units moved closer, nearly meeting some of LEGION's reinforcement parties.

Suddenly, the camera the Gideon imposter was shoulder-mounting fired a laser, hitting Kane, who stumbled, caught off guard, and wounded in the chest. The GDI soldiers within shot the fake, but a firefight erupted as the cyborgs began to trade volleys. Rios rushed out, under fire, ordering GDI forces to attack. Kane was carried out by a pair of his personal guards. Ahsoka turned the camera link off and activated the tactical map.

"LEGION, you're clear to engage the ECG reinforcement parties, but they may be conscripts, so try disable instead of kill." Ahsoka ordered, or rather, suggested, as technically LEGION 'outranked' her.

"So be it. ECG forces are incoming from the opposite side of the river using hover transports."

"**Enemy Units… yes…"** EVA sounded pissed.

"Captain Peirce, we have incoming, I repeat, incoming!" Ahsoka ordered, "Get your men on full alert. General McNeil, stand by, we may need your support soon."

"Ten-Four Commander. Mark locations for drops and they'll come."

ECG forces began landing on the shore, under fire from the GDI defenses. Ahsoka ordered the Sonic Emitters deployed on the shoreline, Peirce did the same, and the sonic waves began ripping the transports apart.

"ECG Carryalls Inbound, Commanders."

"**ECG… never mind."**

"McNeil, I'm transferring Battle Control to you, I'm heading into the field personally."

"Understood, transferring Eagle-Eye."

Ahsoka opened the window of the ConYard's bridge (for lack of better term), leapt out, and as she landed, ignited her lightsaber, hurrying to the front as ECG soldiers, mostly cyborgs, bypassed some of the Sonic Emitters. Nod soldiers of Kane began deploying, mostly the Marked of Kane's elite Enlightened, whose supercharged particle beams proved enough to one-shot most of the ECG cyborgs, much to their surprise.

"**Warning: Temple of Nod detected!"** EVA warned, and Ahsoka cursed as the threat registered… if it was concealed and had its nuke ready to go…

"EVA, location?" Ahsoka asked as she cut through another cyborg soldier who tried to rush her.

"**Across the river. Scans indicate its part of a pre-prepared ECG base that is decloaking to fire."**

"Upload it to the General!" Ahsoka ordered EVA as she prepared to take on the next wave; this time landing previous-generation Avatar warmechs with dual miniature Obelisk-of-Light lasers. Ahsoka parried the lasers, sending them backwards, as Firestorm Taskforce soldiers came forward, braining cyborgs with the butts of their reinforced rifles and smashing through the enemy with typical shock efficiency.

XXXX

Christian Peirce ducked another rocket, and returned fire with his GD-10 rifle, killing four Awakened cyborgs with headshots.

"Sir, we're holding the beach, but Gideon has a nuke on the other side of the Great Lakes!" shouted one of his soldiers.

"Damn it," Peirce said… "What's the Commander's plan?"

"She's knee-deep, sir."

"Great… Hope someone brought something to retaliate…"

XXXX

_**GST Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

McNeil watched as the enemy Temple of Nod prepared to launch its nuclear warhead…

"I want all Air units to hit that damn ECG temple _now_. Prepare Drop Pods to hit the base, I want it leveled. Is the Ion Cannon ready?"

"**Ion Cannon almost ready, General. One minute remaining."**

He had thirty seconds until the temple fired it's nuke… a Firehawk squadron flew in, only to be shot at by SAM sites, the Firehawks barely managed to strato-boost away… The temple's missile silo opened, but instead of one giant missile… many, smaller missiles began to launch.

"EVA, warn the men down there, tell them to move Slingshots and anti-missile weaponry into position!" He only had one Ion Cannon available, and most of GDI's A-SAT defenses were still down, so any missile launched would have to be intercepted by ground forces…

XXXX

"Aurora missiles, incoming!" Ahsoka shouted as she ordered Firestorm air defenses to open fire on the incoming missiles. But there were too many coming in; the defenses would not be able to intercept them all and contain the ECG firing lines…

She saw a ECG Cobra fly by, get hit in the engine by a pursuing Orca, stall briefly, then hit the ground… and it hit her in the face. She closed her eyes as she focused on one of the incoming warheads, feeling it's location in the Force… and she held it in place, putting force onto the warhead… and it exploded. Ahsoka opened her eyes, seeing a miniature mushroom cloud expand where the missile was, taking a pair of enemy missiles with it.

"Commander, if you repeat that…" McNeil said from her wrist EVA. Ahsoka just answered, "Keep me covered then, it takes concentration." She leapt onto one of the bunkers that were deployed, focusing on the missiles, using the Force to create turbulence to the enemy missiles, causing them to explode as if they had hit a Mammoth Tank at full speed.

XXXX

"**Captain Peirce, you need to mobilize a strike team and get the General-Secretary and as many GDI soldiers as possible away from the missile barrage."** EVA ordered, and Peirce nodded. "Lock and load men, I want Charlie Squad and Guardian squad with me, we're going into the Carrier to get the Gen Sec and Kane outta there alive! Hut!"

He and his strike squads jump jetted onto the Carrier were ECG carryalls were landing more cyborgs. He opened fire with his GD-10, scrapping the crude cyborgs to scrap flesh and metal. An ECG tank was landed… _Crap, I have no anti-tank weapons!_

"Hang on sir," said one of the Zone Troopers, firing his cannon at the ECG tank, hitting the cockpit and blowing the pilot to hell.

"Great shot Private!" Peirce responded, "Let's go! Clear the place!"

He rushed forward, shooting the door into the Carrier off its hinges as he rushed in, braining ECG cyborgs with the reinforced rifle stock, breaking the glass covering over their faces and reducing their brain to… he chose not think about that.

He finally came into the meeting room, ending the firefight quickly by shooting all the ECG cyborgs in the back.

"Captain!" shouted one of the GDI soldiers, "The Secretary needs you to clear us a hole in the AA!"

"Understood, let's go!"

Rushing topside, he watched as, to his surprise, the enemy aurora missiles were exploding spontaneously, without receiving a hit from GDI or stray ECG. He checked his EVA map; ECG had deployed two heavy anti-aircraft turrets on the side of Chicago; Nod forces had emerged from hiding and were already destroying one, but he would have to take care of the other one, guarded by a salvaged GDI Mammoth Tank now used by ECG. He glanced at a supply stash; C4 was there and available for his use. Grabbing some, he nodded, and borrowing a Mammoth Tank from the Firestorm Taskforce, they advanced.

He ducked as a barrage of bullets from an Awakened came flying at him; he hurled a grenade, blowing them away, mostly, but the other soldiers shot the remaining Awakened back to sleep… as permanently as a cyborg could be. Enlightened cyborgs, bearing ECG markings, then appeared and rushed forward, attempting to bombard the GDI soldiers; their EMP arms managed to disable the Mammoth from range, so it was now an infantry slug fest. Christian lost track of how much metal, both GDI Zone Armor and ECG cybernetic plating, flew into the air. He kept shooting, emptying clip after clip into the enemy advance until suddenly, there was no more left. He did a quick head count; half his team dead and the Mammoth destroyed, and they still had to deal with an ECG Mammoth tank.

He looked at the AA battery… the Mammoth… the few ECG soldiers… his C4 cartridges.

"Cover me, I'm going to put C4 onto that Mammoth and blow it to hell." Christian ordered, "Take a squad to the left, and another to the right, and force it to pick a target. I'll rush in and plant the C4, when I do so, aim at the infantry by the battery itself."

"Sir yes sir!" The squads split to their respective sides, and, on his command, opened fire. Hailstorms of bullets rained in on the ECG guards, catching them off guard. The Mammoth turned to engage one squad, and Christian activated his backpack mounted jump jet, soaring onto the Mammoth and setting the C4 charge, then leaping off as it exploded, taking the Mammoth's turret off and reducing the guns to so-much scrap. The final ECG soldier fell. Quickly wiring the enemy anti-aircraft battery with C4, they blew it to hell.

"Christian, excellent work!" Rios said via EVA uplink, "We're approaching your position for evacuation, Kane is on board, and the Taskforce is holding the line while we steadily evacuate."

"Copy that Gen Sec," Christian answered, "I'll help the commander, if you'd let me."

"No, Christian; she has it under control. I need you elsewhere."

"Very well, ma'am." Christian felt disappointed though… he owed it to Ahsoka to stay and help, as she had given him fair treatment, one of the few in GDI who did so not because of his hero status, but due to just being who he was.

XXXXX

"So Rios is leaving us to fry, eh?" asked Sarah to Ahsoka, (the former having just arrived). Ahsoka nodded as she set off another ECG missile, taking out an enemy Vertigo bomber in the process.

"Looks like," Ahsoka answered. _And she took Peirce with her while she wussed out… yeah, we're cannon fodder to her. Or at least I am._ It honestly rankled to be seen as cannon fodder, though Ahsoka had to admit she was _powerful_ cannon fodder, at the least. "ECG is going all out, where did they get all these missiles anyways?"

"Probably made 'em, a hand-held nuke is much easier to make then full-scale ones." Sarah answered as she emptied a clip into a group of ECG Enlightened that were landing; GDI was taking the offensive, and an Ion Cannon was about to obliterate the ECG base, which was already pulling out.

"Commander," McNeil said via EVA uplink, "Stand by for Ion Strike, I repeat, Ion Strike."

Ahsoka relayed orders to the Taskforce; RTB and hold the line. Eight blue lights struck Earth, encircling the ECG base and closing in, blasting buildings apart as the beams went to the direct center… the beams met, becoming one larger beam… and a massive pulse of energy roared down, hitting the base with an Earth-Shattering-Kaboom, and the ECG base exploded into pure, ionized energy.

Remaining ECG soldiers began to be routed; Ahsoka wasn't surprised to find some conscripts amongst them… but they were less taken from random homes, more taken from non-combat jobs. Ahsoka was disturbed at that… very disturbed. ECG was sounding more and more desperate… like this was a last gamble before failure.

XXXX

**September 16****th****, 2066**

**GDI Military Base**

**Government District**

**New York City**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka sat down with the other officers; herself, Sarah Granger, Christian Peirce from GDI, and from Nod, the Legendary Insurgent and LEGION in holographic form. They were discussing the recent attack.

"This doesn't make sense, how could Rios fall for that?" Christian asked, "I mean, I know it's her moral duty to end this war in favor of humanity as soon as possible, but a fake surrender is the oldest one in the book."

"Gideon risked a lot on that gamble," Ahsoka pointed out, closing her eyes as she considered.

"How so?" the Insurgent asked.

"Surprised," Sarah commented dryly, "I would think a Nod Inner Circle members would be acute to the details of politics."

"Says the cyborg that's independent," the Insurgent coldly answered in a sarcastic manner. Sarah's knuckles tightened and Ahsoka felt a flash of anger; the stereotypical cyborg was cold, heartless, and just a robot with biological parts… a fairy tale monster, and a real one, depending on the cyborg in question. Sarah was the anomaly in the generalization of mindless cyborgs, even with GDI and Nod forces salvaging ECG cyborgs (dead, of course), they still hadn't been able to determine which kind they were, independent, or central system slaved. Most seemed to at the least had their nerves heavily modified, nullifying pain and allowed direct uplink of orders, but their amount of sentience and independence was difficult to determine due to the fact they're dead.

"Anyways," Ahsoka said, cutting them off before it turned into a heated argument of insults, "the point is, ECG can't say it wants to surrender and meet on neutral ground, they've basically shown they'll take such and use it for a trap. The fact that _we_, not Rios, expected a trap may have been all that stopped this from ending with all our deaths."

Christian shifted uncomfortably… Ahsoka knew that he trusted Rios, and she knew why: Rios was the first who gave him an opportunity in GDI's 'sanitized world'. That, and Rios made him a hero, taking him from Red Zone meat-bag and turning him into _somebody_… she knew that that can't happen overnight without leaving some mark on a person.

"I wouldn't say Rios was _wholly_ wrong," Peirce finally said, "But I agree, she should of consulted the GDI Generals on the matter, especially given how unstable Gideon is."

Ahsoka knew that dispelling any misconceptions he had of Rios would be difficult; Rios had his trust too deeply embedded. Randomly and outside her control, her thoughts drifted to her Jedi Master (though technically he was a Knight), Anakin Skywalker, just briefly, and his relationship with the Republic's leader, Palpatine… _Almost like those two,_ Ahsoka realized. She was just glad Palpatine wasn't the worst politician in history.

"Please," the Insurgent said, "I know I'm supposed to keep it diplomatic, but if it was just a normal peace envoy by GDI, it would have been blown to hell, blown back, and then a _lot_, before any GDI or Nod reinforcements could arrive."

"On the bright side," Sarah pointed out, "we secured Chicago and a lot of territory in between, as ECG lost a lot of ground, which means that the TCN can be built and the city rebuilt too…"

"Good thing too," Ahsoka commented as she looked at one of the reports on her wrist EVA, "Turns out that a bunch of the various communities within Red Zones are being found, and they all need a place to live in GDI territory."

"Is there any word…" Christian began.

Ahsoka checked… "None, I'm afraid, but I'll pass it down to the Taskforce to be alert if they happen upon her. Rios give you clearance yet?"

"No, I'm being sent to spearhead Chicago's reconstruction; ECG won't give it up lightly."

Ahsoka nodded, "You'll probably be working out of the harbor base. Good luck, Captain Peirce."

He nodded, "Thank you, Commander."

After he left, Ahsoka rubbed her chest, where she had taken the aftershock of a blast wound. It was still sore, even after time in a healing trance.

"Something wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," Ahsoka answered, sighing, "I think I'm getting old… just not bouncing back like I used to."

"Probably doesn't help you get shot a lot, does it?"

"Not at all."

XXXXX

**September 17****th****, 2066**

**Morning**

**GDI Council Building**

**Government District, New York City**

**Blue Zone**

"You wanted to talk to me, General Secretary?"

"Yes Christian, come in, please." Rios said, pulling the file she was going to show him. "You're familiar with Tano, right?"

"The Commander? Oh yeah, stories, most of which are surprisingly true, seeing her in action; she trained me."

"Did you know," Rios said, hoping that he did not react as badly as she feared he might, "that she's not human?"

"Define human." Christian answered with a surprising calm.

"Human at all, not former human, not born human… a total non-human being. Maybe not even a mutant as the stories say."

Christian frowned, "I had my suspicions, but didn't Nod modify her DNA during Tib War Three?"

"Studied her, yes, but they wanted to replicate her Tiberium immunity, without her biology. You see, under GDI Executive Order 9066,I have authorization to investigate any matter deemed a threat to world peace and security. The Commander's rogue steak, combined with the forces that are _personally_ loyal to her, not just good GDI soldiers, but loyal to her weather she's human, mutant, or alien, caused me worry. General Mitchell knew more then he let on… indeed, he has lied to us."

"Huh?" A surprised looked crossed his face.

Rios turned the computer, "These files were taken directly from General Mitchell's personal EVA unit. I had to use quite a few resources, but the information it provides… is staggering." _And with it, proof that in all technicality, Ahsoka has as much rights as a blade of grass._ Rios thought, allowing herself a moment to divulge in the fantasy while Christian read the information. She only wished that she had enough of the file to use it as proof after the Sparta incident, it would of tied up so many loose ends.

XXX

Christian began to read the file.

**GDI Identification Information Sheet**

**Biographical Information:**

**Name: Ahsoka Tano**

**Age: 48 (estimate)**

**Rank: GDI Commander (Firestorm Taskforce)**

**Date of Birth: Unknown, estimated about 2018**

**Race: (See Below)**

_On June 17__th__, 2033 CE, Steel Talon soldiers under General Mitchell encountered two people, one, a soldier named 'Rex' belonging to the '501__st__ Legion' of a 'Grand Army of the Republic' in a Galaxy of unknown distance (Possibly our own, but there is nothing that can confirm), the other a woman, barely of 15 years of age armed with a (now defunct) laser-based sword called a 'lightsaber', belonging to a 'Jedi Order', which was serving as officers within the 'Grand Army'._

_This file focuses on the woman. She identified herself as "Ahsoka Tano", of a species called, from wherever she was from, a 'Togruta', one of reportedly _millions_ of different species._

_Confirmation of her history is unknown save what is mentioned…_

Much of the rest was damaged and marked with dashes, but towards the end, something else…

_It was confirmed during the Mount Cheyenne assault in 2052 that Kane knew of her and deliberately brought Rex, but she was actually an accidental aftereffect of the chronoshifting process. Assuming Kane is a reliable source, this has grave implications..._

The file ended abruptly there.

"There's more to it," he said. "But you don't have it."

"No," Rios answered, "The Taskforce's Lieutenant Ajay caught the leak and shut it down, but he was unable to trace it. His official report says it was an ECG attempt. Fortunately, the information looks unofficial to the outside, and he also sent a computer spike… we were barely able to get this out of the system before Ajay's spike destroyed it and the whole room. No one died, thank God, only some injuries from exploding monitors."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to be alert. She has more in her intent then she lets on, I will not have GDI caught with its pants down when a false hero suddenly turns on us, if she does so within our lifetimes."

"Madame Secretary, with respect…"

"I understand your concern; you know she's agreed to what is basically a plea deal that will either way result in her death, but I do not anticipate her honoring it, no matter what General Nagama, Mitchell, or McNeil says. You see, Christian… she killed my parents. It may be called a legitimate call by historians now… but Christian, who is it that decides who the criminal is, the law, or history?"

Christian frowned… "The law, of course… but history can agree or disagree with it, but it doesn't change what happened."

"And by law, she should be dead and gone now. But she isn't… do you know why?"

Christian frowned, considering… _They say she's part of GDI's mythology, or whatever it's equivalent is…_ He then recalled GDI's 'renegade' streak… in the First Tiberium War, Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker, Second Tiberium War, Commander (later General) McNeil, Tib War Three, GDI military leaders Mitchell and Granger, and indirectly, then-Commander Rex.

"You say she evaded it because she's a public hero." Christian finally answered, frowning as the ugly thought confronted him. "Because she's basically a celebrity, intentional or not."

"Correct, Christian. Even the military is clouded in it's judgment… that is why you are so important, you can become a _real_ hero, you already are a hero just for stopping the ECG gunman, when you didn't even have obligations, knowing quite well you could have been shot… and taking out a Mammoth Tank alone, even with help in the form of cover fire, is not something to take lightly, and it's adding to your building legend."

"I just wanted to…"

"And that, Christian," Rios said, cutting him off, "Is where almost every hero starts. Something entirely unrelated, then they do something that gets the _noticed_."

XXXXXX

**End Chapter.**

**I apologize for delaying this update; I realized later that I did not make it clear I intended to stop with the previous chapter, so I decided to take my time with this one and put it up to give the answer.**

**I'm picking option A (see last chapter's Author's Notes). Drafting will resume, and presumably I'll have the fanfic back on track by the time Season 3 for The Clone Wars is out… and after the major plot developments. I may or may not do, over the summer, a long chapter regarding Christian Peirce's heroics within GDI, avoiding use of Ahsoka or other SW characters.**

**Author's Notes:**

**Christian Peirce from the C&C Motion Comic will appear semi-regularly now until his role is done. I have made changes to the story to make it fit, but yes, you can expect the scenes shown in the motion comic to be expanded on and given more depth, or modified to fit the fanon used (such as Ahsoka's presence at the rally).**

**What can I say about Rios, she's a bitch the way I write her. Frankly, I think I'm a bit too unsympathetic, not the original intent of the character itself, but I think I unleashed the beast too soon. Her using Ahsoka on the campaign tour… well, it's kind of redundant, but I wanted to have interaction between Ahsoka and Peirce. Originally, I intended it to just be she trained him, but I added a bit more to it later.**

**Yes, Commando tests were created by Havoc. I would think a bad$$ commando would get to do that. For freaks' sake, there's STATUES of him in some GDI Blue Zones! (Assuming Nod hasn't defaced them all during Tib War Three…)**

**On McNeil… it was recently revealed from old Westwood scripts and data about his background (see the C&C Wiki for details), and since I'm modifying some C&C to tie it in with Star Wars, well, he coulda been a Jedi… if he was found as a baby. I always saw C&C Commandos as the C&C/GDI equivalent or analogue to Jedi Knights. Note that on his count, I only had two variables to work with: Normal human is 2,500 per cell; a barely sensitive (as in it's so low they might as well not count it) is at 5,000; while Anakin Skywalker himself was 20,000 per cell. I'm estimating (properly) Sensitive at around 7,000 or so (basically, 'overly lucky', but not a user), while an actual Force user would be maybe 9,000. For humans, at least. Again, there is no table or chart **_**that I could discover**_** on the count. A bit of a shame, but then again, some fans would rather forget about it, no? As some have said, and as I lampshade in the fic itself, it's the science and tech half of the Force… Yoda in Empire Strikes Back is the mystical side. Considering it's a Sci-Fi setting, I see it as an appropriate combination.**

**Regarding Peirce; originally I intended him to be an officer much later, almost 'player character' like, but with the revelation in the Motion Comic that he got shot (by Kane, no less), I have to ditch that, which is a shame, as he might of turned into the interesting question there. Least I can still do part of it… and justify it even more. And yes, he has nothing for midi-chlorians. What can I say, the Jedi always saying midi-chlorians equals life itself (or something along that line) kinda annoys me, which might explain my liking for KOTOR II.**

**Frankly, I might not have shown it, but the war is supposed to be putting GDI on the edge and they're barely making it through, which makes Peace sound like a good thing to do. I also blame the thing known as Plot Shield, or,**_** it has to happen, even at expense of logic.**_** That's pretty much the reason for the whole Chicago incident… and it sort of fixed time continuity so Chicago would wind up a major city by the time the **_**Methuselah**_** went down. Evidently, Chicago was actually the city Peirce went to in the Motion Comic, but it's actually farther then New York on a map (though I am unfamiliar with the territory in between, but I'd assume it was a Tiberium hellscape), so I switch it to New York and Chicago is where Peirce is based as it's rebuilt. Speaking of New York, yes, I know, that's the showdown of King Takes Pawn. I'm aware of those details… and honestly, having to fix some stuff is a pain as an author, if only because it's disappointing.**

**I am, personally, felt a bit shaky on the Commando Base Defense training mission, but that was a Renegade style base tribute, and really, it's one moment of wince in a action sequence.**

**Ahsoka doesn't use Zone Armor normally, too big for her style and she can't use a lightsaber with it without building a new one that's specifically sized. Doesn't mean she won't use it to keep her ID hidden during such a training session. Actually, I originally had her suited up in a Zone Trooper outfit, briefly, towards the end of **_**Cloned Tiberium**_**, but I removed that when I realized, "Wait, she's supposed to be half-way across the world and can't go more then a few hours trip away…" so I just switched her out with Havoc, who lived in DC in about that time period, along with his (illegally) modified pistol.**

**Oh, yeah… if Rios revealed the truth about Ahsoka, and could prove it (read: The whole file), that'd basically spell legal endex for Ahsoka, even if she is a veteran of the Third Tiberium War and a lot more combat ops then most GDI soldiers ever see or not. How? Think about it, all of GDI's paperwork mentions **_**humans**_**, including the Forgotten… well, Ahsoka's not human (your mileage may vary depending on definitions).**

**And yes, of course, LEGION has a few CABAL mannerisms. For some reason, sadistic AI always seem to be popular amongst fans… Let's shelve this under "Do Not Want to Know".**

**Oh, BTW, I'm figuring I'll go through and fix the original **_**Cloned Tiberium**_** over the summer; I went back and realized: My intended marks to differentiate POV were somehow erased by , which really ticks me off. If you see it updated, that's easily why. Makes reading the thing hell, especially the Mount Cheyenne fight sequence. When I look at it, I'm litterally disgusted that I never noticed it sooner... and worse, if I did, never _did_ anything about it.**


	10. Chapter 10: Tacitus Lost

_"The Tacitus can make or break empires; _**find it**_!"_

- Kane to Nod General Anton Slavik during the earlier events of the Second Tiberium War

_"One thing that disturbs me is numbers; they seem off. ECG has taken far too many casualties to have enough to mount a substantial operation against the whole TCN… I don't get it. Does ECG have hidden colonies? Are they somehow cloning? I know Gideon has gotten some mutant converts, but in general, the numbers aren't adding up. Something I'd ask you to check for me, you have better sources… and familiarity with Nod's recruitment. If ECG is really arming everybody and their great-grandfather's with guns to field against us, that's a good sign that we're putting them on the edge."_

- Baseline GDI InOps Lieutenant Kirce James to the Firestorm Taskforce's Lieutenant Ajay, in regards to inconsistent numbers of ECG forces/civilian populations according to reports and battlefield encounters

**Chapter 10: Tacitus Lost**

**January 13****th****, 2067**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Steel Talons Headquarters**

**Blue Zone**

All hell broke loose as the alarms went off.

"What the hell is going on?" Mitchell shouted, running into the command center.

"ECG strike force inbound, General!" shouted a sensor officer.

"How the hell did they get so close without us knowing?"

"I don't know, sir. Reading units incoming from all sectors, mostly through the city, though!"

"Alright, see if you can find out how, that may come back to bite us. For now, what're we looking at?"

"Five battalions of cyborg infantry, varied between Awakened, Deathless, and Enlightened types; two tank divisions of varied type, ranging from Scorpion to salvaged Predator and Mammoth-29's, a Flame Tank division, and… by the looks of it, several Sub-T teams on standby, unknown types or numbers, just subterranean disturbances pinging on the seismograph."

Mitchell cursed, that would be enough to not only pound the city, but the base itself as well… he considered activated the Firestorm Defenses to ensure the Tacitus was safe… then it hit him. _That_ was exactly what Gideon wanted him to do. To trap himself in the base, then ravage any civilians in the area, leaving him unable to do his duty, or assault the base if he didn't activate the defenses. He couldn't activate the city's Firestorm Defenses either; because they had been stripped due to their insane power demands were sapping the city of much-needed power now that there was no immediate threat. _Alright Gideon, you want to play rough? Here's a present for ya._

"Order the _Kodiak_ prototype to prepare to launch." Mitchell ordered, "Load the Tacitus onto it, and make it look like the Tacitus is still here in the base… Open a communication link to Kane, we need help and he has a base ten klicks northeast." The command almost stuck in his throat, and an officer hesitated. GDI asking Kane for help was like having a Mammoth Mark II collapse on them due to a faulty gyro-stabilizer… and about as humiliating.

An officer quickly opened a link. Kane then appeared on the monitor, "What is it, General?"

"ECG is coming in to take the Tacitus; their strategy and approach suggests that they're going to repeat your tactics at Mount Cheyenne. I'm sending it to the _GST_ _Methuselah_."

Kane nodded, "How do you intend to send it to the GST?"

"The _Kodiak,_ it's our best armed and armored craft that's space capable, anything else and I'd worry about some random fighter shooting it down. The _Kodiak_ has enough armor to prevent that."

"So be it," Kane said, sighing visibly, "I'll send assistance."

Mitchell nodded, and turned to the battle, a holographic map unfolded in the center of the room. "I want those Sonic Emitters back online; pronto!" he ordered as ECG forces began to close towards the cities. The Emitters surrounding the city came back online after a quick rewiring by engineers; the Steel Talons stopped a moment to adjust their resonance protection to the proper frequency, and continued setting up as much of a wall of death for the enemy as possible.

The battle joined as ECG Scorpion Tanks, Raider Buggies, and Attack Bikes reached the cities' edge, where Titans opened fire upon them, blowing the lightly armored enemies away with their heavier ionized rail guns, but Bikes and Buggies sped past, beginning to abuse the slow speed of the Titan, and hitting not only the Titan's flanks, but wildly shooting as well, causing civilians to run and, tragically, die as the ECG rounds exploded or hit around them. More Steel Talons, Zone Infantry and light vehicles alike, arrived to engage them, but while they held some fronts, others, which were delayed in reinforcement, broke, and the city became a war zone, the enemy pushing to the Hammerfest Base. Mitchell ordered the bridges to the base, save one, destroyed, and they were, with the Talons securing the remaining bridge, blocking ECG. Rockslides were created by Titan pilots blasting the loose rocks, crushing ECG cyborg teams under them. Variously acquired Mammoth-29 tanks rolled in bearing ECG markings, but they were met by the newest Mammoth: The Mammoth-31 Tank, which was boxier, but much more armored. It was a clear superior, but ECG had two Mammoth-29's for every Steel Talon 31. Aircraft dueled as ECG aircraft, likely launched from mobile subterranean platforms, sped out to bomb the Steel Talons. Civilian Evacuation craft were defended fiercely by the Steel Talons, from infantryman up to and counting Behemoth artillery walkers launching fragmentation shells, the Steel Talons fought back, protecting the innocent as Gideon's forces came to slaughter the defenseless as more ECG aircraft came in. The Steel Talon's mechanized forces proved to be superior to ECG's masses, but attrition was not in favor of the Talons, and ECG's usage of fast-moving hit-and-run was steadily whittling the Talons down, as they only had so much firepower to bring to bear.

Mitchell ordered his Orcas to intercept the enemy fighters, and dogfights began throughout the battlefield, with ground-based Anti-Air of both sides attempting to support their pilots. Cobras of ECG and the Hurricanes and Orcas of the Steel Talons came flying down to Earth in heaps of screaming metal, Venom shredded by Steel Talon anti-aircraft batteries. Sandstorm MRLS and Talon RLS craft sped around, hitting the enemy and speeding away, using their cliff-jump abilities to keep ahead of ECG and having land-based dogfights with the ECG hit-and-run vehicles, both speeding down the city streets like bikers on drugs and sending homing rockets at each other, making some of the most elegant duels in the sky look puny in comparison as they dodged and weaved through the battle. A trio of Sandstorms sped by an ECG force, their strikes hit the Flame Tanks, causing heavy damage to them, and Hunter Tanks moved in to finish the tanks off before they could attempt an evacuation upon realizing they would be useless save to be killed. He watched as Talon hovercraft blasted apart the enemy Attack Bikes, sending the ECG bikers flying into the skies as their bike's miniature Tiberium reactor cores went critical and exploded. Mitchell activated the Steel Talon's orbital bombardment, calling in the heavy-weight metallic slugs down on top of ECG groupings, forcing them to spread out and engage the Steel Talons one on one… an area ECG could not compete without dancing around the incoming firepower... and the tight city streets favored the Steel Talons in that regard; _especially_ since the last of the civilians were being airlifted as they spoke. Because of that, Mitchell was free to call in whatever he needed if necessary.

XXXX

Sergeant Harrington swore as he ducked behind a blown-over bus and reloaded his rail gun; ECG Awakened cyborgs had him pinned, and his squad was dead. _Damn it damn it damn it!_ he thought repeatedly, the lights leaving his squad's eyes one by one as they died, the one defense keeping him from seeing the body horrors, fresh and vivid in his mind. The swears flowing in his mind, he turned out of his cover and firing, sending a blue bolt straight through the chest of an Awakened, but he didn't see if it knocked it dead or not, as he ducked right back behind cover and cycled to his next round. _If they knew it was just me, they'd of rushed me by now..._ then he heard heavy metallic footsteps. "_Fuck_." he said, before glancing up; spotting a Wolverine moving up; he sprinted, leaping up as bullets danced around his position, then he cursed as he was hit in the back and legs, tripping.

He whirled around, bringing his rail gun to bear as the Wolverine opened fire, mowing down two of the Awakened in the first volley. He pulled the trigger, missing, and he struggled to get up, but he was down for the count until he received help...

The Wolverine ripped the rest of the Awakened apart, leaving the five cyborgs dead.

"Need some help?" asked the Wolverine driver over the radio.

"Yeah..." he grunted, "Medic too, I think I broke a leg... Squad Eleven of the 981st is dead."

"Hang on Sarge, we'll get you a medic as soon as one available; and your squad may live..."

XXXX

Sister Oriana Lawson smiled as she dodged another rocket from a pursuing Orca, pulling her Cobra up and kicking it's VTOL systems in; the enemy Orca overshot, and she pulled the trigger, and watched as the plasma round hit the Orca, burning through it's fuselage and causing it's engines to explode and come crashing down into the city streets, landing on a Wolverine and exploding both vehicles as well as the dead GDI squad next to it, the fire having spread and causing the nearby vehicles' gas tanks, always of an unfortunately volatile Tiberium derived fuel, exploded spectacularly. _Least GDI can't get less explosive fuel sources,_ she thought amused, _makes blowing them up so much easier._

"_Watch your tail, Crusader Five!"_ warned her wingman, and she turned to the left, a clip of Steel Talon anti-air missing and shooting harmlessly into the skies. She switched to the fighter systems, turning the VTOL engines off and flying forward, maneuvering left and right, up and down, as the enemy Slingshot attempted to gun her down; eventually she turned around, ducked under another barrage that nearly clipped her Cobra's wings and left dents in her Cobra's armor, the shock of the impact reverberating back into her cockpit and causing her hands to shake, but she held the course. She fired, the heavy round landing directly into the cockpit, exploding and consuming it's pilot and gunner, leaving the Slingshot a useless piece of salvage.

_"Crusader Squadron, disengage enemy forces and secure Evac-Four."_ came the voice of her squadron's leader. Keying her radio, she responded, "Copy that. Crusader Five redeploying."

XXXX

Private Cerris ducked as his head was nearly blown into a pulp by an ECG round from an Enlightened; turning out of cover and opening fire with his Gatling blaster, he took slow steps as he ripped the enemy cyborgs open like a can. His fellow Enforcers moved up to support him and the squad advanced, pushing through the ECG cybernetic soldiers and ripping them apart.

"Alright squad," his Sergeant said, "Take a minute and catch your breath; we're in the clear."

Nodding and having his EVA unit diagnose his armor, he found that it had taken a number of hits and would need repair when possible; his gun was fully working...

"Incoming!" shouted one of the other Enforcers, and he looked up;

An ECG Cobra was just shot down and was going to crash... he leapt away, the enemy craft exploding behind him as it hit the ground; he skidded several feet, and swore; there was something missing... he diagnosed the suit.

And he was just stunned when he realized he was missing the bottom half of his legs.

XXXX

Corporal Laura Springfield took cover, holding her dual rocket launchers ready; an ECG tank was rolling down, and she was the only thing between that and one of the city's power plants. She turned right and out of cover, bringing her rocket launchers into firing positions, and fired, the kickback of the two rockets causing her to take a step back and she ducked behind cover. Her EVA unit registered a hit.

_Sick,_ she thought, smiling, then opened herself out of cover and fired again, the outdated and stolen Predator, dinged and dented from Hurricane strafing runs, took the second volley and slowed, two holes in the treads. It fired it's old rail gun, the burst of light slamming into the building next to her and blasting masonry away, the Tiberium-derived concrete knocking against her armor. She fired her third salvo, and the Predator skidded to a halt; and began to fire more and more. She got out of the way and checked her suit.

"Crap," she muttered, realizing that her right rocket launcher wasn't responding enough; she'd have to settle for her left. She glanced to the other side of the street, and sprinted. The tank fired after her, just missing her... then the third shot, right as she was almost into the cover, blasted her forward, causing her to slid on the ground... and she heard a shout of joy and the sound of a tank rolling... Pushing herself up, panting and her whole back aching from the concussive force of the blast, she turned, ready to fight to the end...

XXXX

Air Major Romanov turned his Orca to the side as he spotted the ECG Predator, and strafed it with his rockets, the missiles streaking down like white meteors and striking the tank, all five rockets blasting into the tank top and blowing the cramped cockpit inside out, obliterating the crew. He heard a radio click and a woman's voice;

"_Thanks for the save whoever that was."_

He activated his radio, "My pleasure."

He then glanced; there was a radar lock on him. Glancing to find out who it was, it was an enemy Cobra... he turned, and fired his first cycled rocket, then upped his altitude to get above the Cobra's cannon round, which shot to where he was mere moments ago. Flying forward and kicking the VTOL engines to let him turn, he faced the Cobra head to head, and sped forward with two rockets cycled; he sped forward, firing both and yawing to the right as the two jousted... He grunted as his left engine took the hit but held, and readied for the next joust, to see how his rockets had lasted... his left engine was reading damage and a lack of efficiency due to a broken coolant line...

"EVA, switch to ze secondary coolant!" he ordered in his thick Russian accent and readied for the next joust.

The Cobra was smoking, but the pilot seemed determined to finish him. Then a rocket from below hit it, and it exploded, it's Tiberium Core detonating and consuming the cockpit inside out...

The craft crashed, and he glanced down; he couldn't see his savior of mere moments ago.

"Air Major Romanov to the soldier I rescued a moment ago," he asked to a low-range open channel, "Do you copy?"

XXXX

Swearing as she limped away, her rocket launchers detached and her armor offline from a now-ruined power system, Laura pulled herself to the sidewalk. She heard something garbled on her radio, but she didn't answer, her legs were broken and she had a feeling she cracked all her ribs too... the garbled transmission repeated, and she caught, "_Do you copy? This is Air Major Romanov."_

"Corporal... Springfield... copies." she grunted, barely able to make the words out. "Just... paying debts..."

She heard a sigh of relief, then, "_Stand by, entering you in for medevac_." The accent was thick; but she couldn't recognize it at the moment.

_Starting to think I should of listened to my mother... what was I thinking, joining the GDI armed forces... wonder what she'd say now, "I told you so, Laura,"_.

_Damn right;_ she would have responded, _but it was worth it..._ she wondered if she'd at least be buried back in her hometown, DC...

XXXX

Brother Arian marched forward, firing his particle beam from what was once his right hand, hitting a Zone Trooper in the arm and causing him to stagger back, dropping his rail gun. He rushed forward, ducking behind cover, then launched a quick EMP burst over, and heard the enemy armor powering down... _Won't last; must move._ he thought, then leapt over, sprinting forth. He shot a Zone Enforcer in the head with a slightly too-high shot aimed at the torso, knocking the soldier back and causing him to swirl around; he jumped over the barricade, landing atop of the Enforcer and looking at the next Zone Trooper, holding his smoking particle cannon ready as the other Awakened pushed to the position...

Then he saw a half dozen Wolverines marching down the street... and he felt, to his greatest horror, fear.

Then to his amazement, he saw a squad of six bone-white warriors leap down from the nearby buildings' roofs, landing atop of the Wolverines; the GDI soldiers saw it too, and shocked, began entering a melee with the Awakened within their perimeter. Punching the Trooper he looked at in the face with his EMP arm, Arian aimed his particle beam at the Trooper and fired, the armor holding, then held it at the soldier's head, and finished him. The other Zone Infantry dead with half of their dozen cyborg squad dead against a GDI squad equivalent to the dead, Arian watched as the Enlightened powered down the Wolverines, then blasted them from atop, their landing already collapsing part of the Wolverine's canopy, but the top design was intentionally boxy to counteract such top-landings. The Wolverines, one by one, exploded as their Tiberium Cores were pierced and spontaneously combusted by the supercharged particle beams the Enlightened used, and the six bone-white cyborgs leapt off, landing hard enough to crack pavement, and observed the Awakened as one of the Wolverines went flying into the air, it's driver screaming for dear life, and it crashed into the pile of dead mechs.

XXXX

After an hour of hard fighting, and many more short tales like those recovered from the GDI and Nod archives, many tragic, many of heroism, the _Kodiak_ lifted off.

XXXXX

**Firestorm HQ**

**Codename: Resolute**

Ajay swore as he received the alert from Mitchell, he opened a direct channel, "Commander!" Ajay shouted, "ECG just hit Hammerfest, the battle's underway!"

Ahsoka, who was at the Taskforce base in Black Forest, nodded, "_Got it Ajay_." She turned to someone off the screen, "_Sarah! Get your team together, we gotta move! Pronto! Bare necessities only_!"

XXXX

**LEGION Datacore**

**Ruins of Sarajevo (reconstruction scheduled to begin)**

**Yellow Zone**

LEGION watched from his datacore as his Marked of Kane cyborgs, which arrived at Hammerfest minutes ago, engaged ECG's cruder copies. Retrofitted ECG Beam Cannons began to target the _Kodiak_. "Defend the _Kodiak_ at all costs!" LEGION ordered, and instructed the cyborgs to target the offending Beam Cannons. The lightly armored Beam Cannons exploded under fire from Enlightened cyborgs… The _Kodiak's_ heavy cannons were blasting ground forces where they could, obliterating ECG forces and sending them in many different directions, leaving only craters and mere fractions of their targets intact… assuming they did not explode upon landing or shatter further.

ECG Cobra fighter/gunships sped in, some dodging Deathless launched rockets, others failing and crashing down to earth. The _Kodiak_ was fired upon more… 78% integrity… three minutes later, 69%... the ECG Cobras, reinforced now with Venom and some new incarnation of _Banshee_ attack fighters were chewing the _Kodiak_'s armor steadily but surely. And they were shot down in return from the _Kodiak_'s quadruple Vulcan cannon array, the Venom taking much of it.

XXXXXX

_Mitchell was far too occupied with saving Hammerfest and its people to cover the _Kodiak, _as I planned._ Thought Gideon from his secure bunker, and he smiled, _They thought I was short term glory, incapable of a grand scheme like this… and now they are proven wrong. The Talons thought their contingency would save them, and all they did was make my job easier._ He enjoyed playing two steps ahead; he knew Mitchell couldn't stand to let civilians die if he could do something about it, but he also wouldn't shirk from responsibility, even if he was reckless. This was how he knew Mitchell would commit ground forces to the city while launching the _Kodiak_, thinking it would get clear relatively unnoticed, perhaps dismissed as trying to save the prototype. He was wrong. The _Kodiak,_ still under fire, was at 53% hull integrity according to his EVA unit… "Go, my children," Gideon said to no one in particular, "Bring the fascist behemoth down…"

XXXXX

Air Major Romanov locked onto the enemy Cobra strafing the _Kodiak_ from above, riddling it with rockets and his Orca's secondary chain gun, hitting it in the vulnerable engines and causing the craft to fall down to the snowy ground and explode. Swerving to avoid colliding with a Banshee. The Banshees were firing some form of rapid-fire laser system, and were chewing the _Kodiak's_ armor...

**"Kodiak at 50% Hull Integrity."** said his EVA unit.

"Where ze hell is _Battlestar_ squadron?" Romanov asked as he knocked a Banshee out of the sky, pulling to the left to avoid taking a hit from a Cobra on his tail, which was knocked out by a Firehawk pilot arriving from GDI's stratospheric command...

XXXXX

"_This is the _Kodiak_, we have engine failure, I repeat, engine failure, we are going down, I repeat, going_…" the rest of the transmission was garbled by static.

Ahsoka swore loudly in response as the Harrier she was onboard reached Hammerfest's extended airspace; the battle had gone on for an hour and fifteen minutes; her team (which launched thirty minutes into the battle) using the new Harrier model (which had stratospheric capabilities) to arrive quicker, as they had no time to travel to a GST for a drop pod strike. The GST _Methuselah_ was launching RAID soldiers into the battle, McNeil's elite rapid response soldiers landing on top of ECG soldiers, squishing them instantly under the armored drop pods, and coming out to clean ECG's forces up and use them to wipe the floor, walls, and fjords. Ahsoka could see, in the distance, almost on the horizon, as the _Kodiak_'s engines imploded.

Baseline GDI soldiers from the GST _Abraham_ began landing, Mammoth Tanks and Hunters swarming out of the area, with Zone Troopers and Enforcers following, guns blazing against the rapidly falling back ECG forces; but ECG's cyborg units were not so quick to fall, forcing GDI to engage ECG street to street, walker to tank, tank to tank. ECG airstrikes suddenly switched to the city, and the whole area was a warzone as secondary ECG units showed up for the battle. It was a bloodbath of metal, rail gun cooling liquids, blood... and gore.

XXXXX

Confessor Marcus Antonius received his orders: Go to the _Kodiak_'s wreckage, and recover the Tacitus. "Move out!" he ordered, and his men, all Black Hand infantry armed with either new heavy-duty laser assault rifles or flamethrowers, rushed out and opened fire on GDI soldiers.

The _Kodiak_ hit the Earth with a shattering thud, blowing wind across the area… its engines exploded more, but the bridge was still intact. He blinked several times as he was momentarily blinded by the concussive force finally reaching his position, stars seeming to explode in front of him, but he only felt a light headache.

"Brother," said one of the lesser officers, "the Talons and their GDI allies shall swarm the area once Deacon Harbur's distraction is expended, they cannot withstand the onslaught for long."

"Understood, clear the _Kodiak_ wreckage." _We're losing a lot more than expected; we underestimated GDI's willing to commit to defending the Tacitus... but it we were ready to make this quick, if needed, at least._

Reaching the _Kodiak_ quickly, they saw GDI survivors digging in and setting up barricades, in an effort to prevent their entrance. He opened fire, his riflemen keeping the GDI survivors down while a pair of flamethrower wielding Disciples moved in… blue flames spit out, roaring like hellish demons and the very apocalypse itself as the flames roared forth, catching the GDI soldiers. The two Disciples finished incinerated the young GDI soldiers (Who were in GDI's older Commando armor, now standard issue for use on board ships such as the _Kodiak_), who screamed in pain as they were consumed, nothing but blue bubbling goo being left behind. The barricades were no more than bubbling masses either, and they rushed into the _Kodiak_, gunning down GDI naval officers who were spotted without hesitation or mercy, determined to avoid anyone finding their objective and informing GDI until it was too late.

Entering the bridge, he found the Tacitus, and he claimed the data matrix. He could feel it pulse as he carried it out of the However, as he rushed out to get to his Reckoner transport, it was blown to smithereens by an Orca. "Squads two and three, we need cover. Squad One, with me, we need to get to another evac point!"

"**Extraction point is now at point Zero-Four-Seven,"** said his EVA unit, the Nod version used during the Third Tiberium War… before it was phased out in favor of LEGION.

"Let's go!" he ordered as most of his company engaged the pursuing GDI soldiers, and knocking the Orca out of the sky. _Fight well, brothers,_ he thought grimly, _your sacrifice won't be forgotten..._

"Sir?" asked one of his soldiers.

He shook his head, focusing on the mission, "Damn shame it came to that; I hope they survive... they've been too good to me for me to do that to them." _Damn straight they don't deserve me doing that to them... but the mission has to come first._

Suddenly, he heard a trio of Harrier gunships…

XXXXX

Commander Ricardo Vega grunted as his drop pod hit the Earth, and as it rose he opened fire on the ECG Awakened in front of him, firing his GD-11 rifle's _Gunner_ mode, firing low powered but rapid shots perfect for riddling the cyborgs and distracting them. He moved forward, shouting, "RAID units, Attack pattern beta!"

The RAID Riflemen behind him activated their jump jets, soaring over in their advanced Zone Armor, granted with additional servo-motors and jump jet power for increased mobility, and fired their GD-10 rifles, ripping through the enemy with the rapid strikes and chewing through the enemy cyborgs steadily as they broke off. He then rushed forward, sliding under a cyborg and as it looked down, he shot it in the groin, raised his right foot to kick it forward, then turned to the side, tripping it over him. As the cyborg hit the ground face first, he rose and finished it off with repeated rifle hits, the armor resembling something that had been punched repeatedly, and the cyborg's head (or what was left of the organic part) was something Ricardo wouldn't describe on his best day.

_"Commander, we have ECG units going for Hammerfest!"_ shouted Colonel Tera Gallagher over the radio; her unit was further north.

"Got it; we're securing the southern city now. How's the General holding?"

"_Firestorm Defenses are up, but ECG managed to disable several segments before they activated, some sort of subterranean strike. Didn't work once they were up... hold on;"_ he heard the sounds of her GD-11 rifle going off, then look at his men; "Alright, form up, we're going to the base to help out the General, _let's move!_"

XXXXX

Stepping out of the drop pod from the GST _Lazarus_, ZOCOM's nominal GST to deploy from, she activated her radio;

"This is Major Park responding to emergency beacon AA-13, come in General Mitchell."

"_Mitchell here; we're under fire at the base. RAID units have showed up, but I need help sweeping the countryside. ECG units are falling back, but we can't let them escape and cause havoc."_

"Copy that sir, we'll head out and hunt them down. Let's go!" she shouted to her squad of Troopers and Raiders, "Objectives are to knock out all ECG units; tag and bag."

XXXXX

"Hold the line!" shouted ECG Brother-Captain Santos, reloading his rifle and opening fire on the incoming ZOCOM soldiers; but the enemy couldn't be stopped as they commenced a blitzkrieg forward, dodging the incoming particle beam rounds and cannon rounds and firing sonic grenades into their supposedly garrison-popper prove bunkers, blowing warriors into the walls with lethal force and disrupting their bodies with sonic resonance.

He aimed at a Raider who was sprinting up, and fired... only for her to jump jet at the last second and unintentionally dodge the bullets, and she came down on top of his bunker... he saw a laser cutting into it, and, swearing a storm, shifted his aim...

And when an opening was made, a grenade fell in. And it exploded white hot...

And his body was disrupted and shattered by the sonic grenade, his blood exploding as the membranes of every cell collapsed, and he literally exploded into a puddle of molecular water... very _bloody_ water.

XXXXX

Vega ducked and rolled, coming up into a firing position and his head saved from being blown off by the Mammoth Tank ahead with ECG markings. He switched his GD-11 to higher powered rounds, accelerated and gathered like a shotgun's shell, and as he fired each round, the burst went so fast forward that the shot was like one projectile. _Least _Cannon_ mode can do a lot of damage when I need it,_ Vega thought, glad the GD-11 had multiple weapon modes.

RAID Anti-Tank soldiers moved up with their powerful shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, firing several at a time thanks to the unique load out system they used; less power, but more rockets and more ammunition to go around; the two dozen rockets from the eight AT soldiers streaked forward, blasting against the Mammoth Tank and reducing its forward armor to slag. The second volley managed to crush it in further, but it still held despite the almost continuous streak of ammunition raining down on its front.

"Waxer, Trap, head around and hit it from the buildings!" Vega ordered, "We'll cover you!"

"Sir yes sir!" shouted the two AT troopers, heading into different directions. Turning his attention back to the enemy Mammoth, he switched to the lower powered rounds; he didn't want to damage it more than he wanted to blind the drivers with sheer incoming. Pulling the trigger and sending forth bursts of accelerated rounds forward, the RAID soldiers held the Mammoth's attention, but not without cost. A tank shell blasted two RAID soldiers into the wall of a nearby coffee shop, and they did not get up as their spines were cracked, and ribs crushed by the kinetic force of hitting the windows and wall.

XXXXX

ZOCOM Firehawk ace Gareth Longhorn dived at the ECG Mammoth pinning down the RAID soldiers, and dropped his three Hellcat bombs. The bombs hit the top of the tank, blowing a hole into the turret. He pulled up, flying over the RAID soldiers, and engaged his stratospheric boosters, flying up into the stratosphere for the briefest of moments before descending down over Hammerfest, near where ZOCOM was setting up a field position to support the city's defense.

XXXXX

Kitty "Trap" Weaver rushed forward, holding the handle of her rocket launcher as she ran up the steps of the abandoned food store. She came up to a door, and knocking it open with her left side, stepping over and coming to the edge. Looking over, she saw the Mammoth was opening fire, but it's crew compartment had been blown open.

_That took some firepower,_ she thought with a smirk as her HUD locked onto the Mammoth, aiming for the center; she fired the first, second, third, and fourth rocket, the four projectiles glowing as they left a trail of white, hitting inside the Mammoth and blowing it apart inside, obliterating the crew within and simply _searing_ their flesh with consuming flames. She smiled as she realized she could say she finished off a _Mammoth._ Glancing to the other side, she realized that Waxer wasn't there... and he was laying on the roof... bleeding... and with a hole where his shoulder should have been.

Suddenly, she shouted, a hole in her leg; she collapsed, looking frantically for the attacker; she fell forward, head slamming into the store's sign, breaking her faceplate, her nose, and shredding her face as the glass hit, then she fell further, her head hanging over the street, like a prisoner awaiting within the guillotine, the street the basket.

XXXXX

ECG Sniper Pariah Black aimed at the idiotic girl from a half mile away; _Stupid blond bimbo, _he thought as he aimed for her head, and pulled the trigger of his sniper rifle. But something exploded behind him, throwing his aim, and the round harmlessly hit the building.

Recovering from his prone position, he looked for the attacker; and saw that it was a miss from a Steel Talon Titan trying to target an Enlightened that had ran past him on the roof. Relieved, he aimed again at the RAID Anti-tank girl... she was staring down at the street, and he smiled as he aimed for her pretty little head, musing that her boyfriend would be horrified on the next date...

Then he just exploded.

XXXXX

"Headshot," Bull's-eye said to his partner as he watched the ECG amateur die with his head nothing more than hot air. Moving to the next sniping position to avoid any other snipers, he moved quickly and silently, leaping over the gap between the buildings and taking cover behind a _McBurger Kong_ logo at the top of his new sniping position, aiming at an Awakened...

XXXXX

Vega ran up the stairs, the squad's medic behind him, and he ran up the store and found Trap staring down on her chest. The medic got to work immediately, pulling her back while Vega aimed for hostiles... several Awakened rushed over the rooftops, one falling as he was hit by a sniper, sent flying into an alley and out into the city streets, but two more were coming as the medic carried Trap down the stairs slowly...

Crouching and aiming, he fired, riddling the first one as it jumped over the last building and causing it to hit face-first the rooftop, breaking his face open and sending him into what would be an abyss to him. The second one rushed him, but Vega quickly rolled to the left, shot the weapon hands, disabling them, and rushed the cyborg, punching it in the face, breaking the faceplate and breaking his re-breather, as well as his hand. _Damn it damn it damn it,_ he thought as his right hand hurt like a bitch, his armor already applying GDI's regeneration serum to the shoulder to help him recover, but it would be sore for a while.

XXXXX

"Follow the breakaways!" Ahsoka ordered, sensing the Tacitus in the Force (and what a beacon it was) as the Black Hand soldiers escaped with it, "They have the Tacitus!"

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" answered the pilot, who was used to Ahsoka having seemingly instant updates, and their Harrier turned to give chase as the other two dropped their payload of Zone infantry into the battle. Hammerfest was burning, the base battered from artillery strikes and the city heavily damaged, but it had stood. It was a grave, grave loss for GDI, especially the loss of the _Kodiak_ prototype, but she couldn't focus on that, GDI needed to stop Gideon from getting the Tacitus.

The enemy soldiers with the Tacitus moved quickly. _They must be outfitted with cybernetic legs,_ Ahsoka mused, surprised that Gideon's Black Hand divisions would do so, as they had always hated 'soulless machines'. The Harrier opened fire with its dual guns, and she nodded to the Zone Troopers. Grabbing the railings, the floor suddenly disappeared, or so it seemed, it had retracted. They let go and began free falling like a bomb barrage towards the enemy.

XXXXX

"NO!" Marcus shouted as, to his greatest shock, _Ahsoka Tano_ was confirmed pursuing him… he knew he was no match for the famed GDI commando, Gideon was still developing the secret weapon with which to kill her… a secret weapon which needed Tacitus data to create… He felt fear rise up in his chest, his legs were freezing up, but still ran, his muscles tightened… he felt scared. Every ECG soldier, and before them, every Nod soldier learned to fear and respect the powers of the GDI commando, and to understand that failure against one was still considered failure, even with their _stupidly lethal_ special forces training. His mind briefly thought on her tactics; cutting him into pieces with her lightsaber; filling him with holes with a rail carbine; telekinetically throwing him around like a rag doll; or just electrocuting him with lightning; any method was terrifying, the stuff of nightmares according to the _**very**_ rare few who survive… and were recovered, never mind living long enough for such. Few of them even recovered _at all_ from the experiences.

XXXX

Ahsoka parried the laser rounds from the Black Hand assault soldiers, knocking them back into the Black Hand and causing them to collapse; Zone Troopers behind her firing rail guns, they destroyed the rearguard group effortlessly and advanced on the Confessor; she was almost close enough to attack him with the Force...

XXXX

Suddenly, Marcus Antonius felt something… familiar… as if intuition gained by holding the Tacitus…

"You won't take us, or the Tacitus, _ALIVE!"_ he shouted, knowing how to mask the fear, before thrusting the Tacitus into the ground, willing it to shatter in a massive explosion… and he knew nothing more save satisfaction that his fear, fear for suffering in the line of duty in holy Gideon's name, was erased.

XXXX

Ahsoka, acting on instinct, not thinking of what she was doing, near instantly created a barrier of Force energy between her soldiers and the massive gold-white explosion erupted from where the Tacitus had been shattered… the energy exploded against the barrier… she collapsed, fainting… or worse, but she felt weightless before she blanked out.

XXXXX

"Holy _shit_!" Park shouted as she saw the explosion from at least miles away.

"What the fuck was that?" asked the Zone Raider next to her.

XXXXX

Vega shot the last Awakened in the chest, blasting his body in half with the GD-11, then looked up as he heard something... and what was like an explosion of pure light seemed to be visible, several streaks flying away from it...

"What the hell?" asked Tera Gallagher next to him...

XXXXX

"What the _hell_ was that?" Mitchell cursed as he saw the almost Ion Cannon-like explosion. The Talons with ZOCOM and RAID had cleaned up the remaining ECG strike force, which was in retreat now, and he was sending Hunter tanks out to pursue them, to ensure they didn't threaten either the base or the city. RAID soldiers had managed to hit the artillery batteries pounding Hammerfest through the hole in the Firestorm Defenses before ECG scuttled them and escaped, while mainline GDI soldiers arriving via Harrier gunships were securing the whole city and sweeping for surprises.

"Sir!" shouted a sensor officer, "We've detected seven objects flying away at extreme velocities; one is landing nearby. We need to recover it before ECG does."

"Why's that, Corporal?"

"From the data readings, it may be connected to the Tacitus. I'm not sure sir, a hunch."

Mitchell nodded, appreciating the initiative; it took guts for a corporal to make a suggestion to _a general_, assigned sensor analysis officer or not, "Understood, not a bad call. I like the initiative, just remember to keep it respectful, some officers dislike it. Regardless, pass this to Corporal Siegfried, he's to take his Hunters over there and to recover the shard or whatever it is. If he can't, at the very least he's to deny it to ECG. And track the other objects; we need to find out what the hell happened… and someone to where the explosion happened… we need to find out what happened to Ah… Commander Tano's team."

"Yes sir."

Mitchell sighed, he hated having to wait around, but the Mammoth Mark 2.5 was heavily damaged, it's legs crippled in the battle while defending the base from a number of ECG Avatar walkers, and he couldn't go out in just any tank, especially at Red Alert, GDI's equivalent to DEFCON 2 (which was a step above all-out-war, including nuclear weaponry), due to his rank as a General. _What I'd give to be in the field again… not because I like battle, but because it feels wrong to be sitting here while others are getting shot to hell._

XXXXX

"Sir," said one of Siegfried's tank crewmen, "We have a lock on the item."

"What is it then?" Siegfried asked, peering through the tank's viewport. It looked like… a crystalline shard, roughly the size of a Hunter's wheel, but jagged and shattered like. "For something so small, it certainly made a nasty crater."

"I dunno sir."

"Right. Gather it up, we'll take it back to base…"

"Sir! ECG patrol!"

"Fire at Will!"

The Hunters opened fire on the ECG cyborg patrol, and managed to pin them down and destroy them, the first cyborg they hit, ironically, was named Will. Not that Siegfried would ever know the irony as his men cratered the ECG cyborgs, reducing the cyborgs to scrap, sending mechanical limbs off of their associated cyborgs.

"Let's get it out of here," Siegfried ordered, "Before more show up. And contact the General."

"Can't sir, interference with intermediate range communications and farther."

"Lovely. Carry on."

XXXXX

Sarah ran forward, finding Ahsoka's team down on the ground, unmoving. She tried to activate her helmet's bio-scan, but there was interference from the blast. She'd have to check if they were alive or dead the old fashioned way. No one was moving, and she couldn't hear any groans… _Don't be dead… don't be dead…_ she hoped as she knelt next to Ahsoka, who looked like she had been blown back and was lying face down on the ground, and rolled her over. Ahsoka's face was bruised, likely from whatever blew her back. She put a finger under her chin, checking the pulse, but she couldn't feel it through the armor or cybernetics.

The two Zone Troopers accompanying her managed to take the helmet off of a downed Zone Trooper… he was alive and well.

"What happened?" Sarah asked, looking at the surprisingly recovered Trooper, who looked dazed, taking time to speak, his slow speech almost irritating Sarah in the fact that she needed to find out what was going on _now_.

"Dunno ma'am, all I know is the Commander fainted doing some fancy stuff to stop the blast from hitting us… well, most of it, the kinetic force still blew us all back hundred-fifty plus meters. This place got a whole lotta EMP, shut us down good, and you know how heavy this armor is. Whatever it is that bastard took from the _Kodiak_, it probably blew up with him."

Sarah nodded, noting brief strands of electricity appearing in the air, the ground scorched. What was once a beautiful set of snow banks was now charred black by battle, now almost literally a crater. The other Troopers had their helmets pulled off, and it was confirmed: all their armor had been shut down by the blast; and Ahsoka at the very least had a serious concussion… _She really needs to wear a helmet,_ Sarah realized. _But then again, we don't have any that fit her, do we? And even the Taskforce can't get one specially made without awkward questions; heck, even with one there'd be awkward questions…_

"Stay here and get them to shelter," Sarah ordered, "I'll get out of the interference and radio the General, and see if I can't get a MedEvac here."

"Yes ma'am," responded one of the Troopers.

XXXXX

"Grab a fresh medkit!" shouted the medic 'Doctor' Leroy Jerome as he checked the RAID AT soldier's wounds, her helmet off and blond hair in the ponytail that was popular amongst the female GDI soldiers these days...

"Here it is!" said one of the soldiers assisting him with getting the medical supplies, and he took the kit, examining the blown out hole in her leg... _Damn the girl is going to be in rehab for months,_ he thought, _Well, she should of been more careful about snipers, damn it... now my work is a lot harder..._

XXXXX

Air Major Romanov flew next to the Harrier carrying wounded, including the corporal he saved, and who had returned the favor. His squadron was down to three-fourths strength, all due to death, and here he and his squad was, flying escort for sentimentality...

_No, not sentimentality._ he thought, sighing, _Just doing a favor while we're here._

XXXXX

Private Cerris just looked at his missing legs in shock as he lay in the temporary ZOCOM base's medical bay, shocked beyond belief at the two stumps... _My... legs..._ he thought dully, wondering how it had happened, why the crash had spared him... _I... I have to be having a afterlife hallucination or something..._

The nurse who was cleaning the wound came back with fresh trays, rubbing the white cloth against the stumps, cleaning them and keeping them from becoming infected... she looked at him, but he could not tell her expression from sheer shock.

XXXXX

"What's the hold up?" Siegfried asked as several soldiers were trying to pick up the shard, which was only about the size of a Hunter tank's wheel, if that. _Some reason it looks supersized from something smaller. What is this thing anyways?_

"We can't pick it up, sir." Said one of his tank crewmen, who had tried to lift it, "It's insanely heavy… we'll need heavy lifters."

He muttered under his breath. _This is too much for me… it's a freaking piece of who-knows-what that looks lighter then vacuum, and we can't pick it up?_ "Fine. Blitzen, RTB and tell the General."

"Sir!" he responded; then one of the Tanks then drove off.

XXXXX

Sarah tried again… the interference had gone past the _Kodiak_'s crash site. "Captain Granger to Steel Talon Command, come in, I repeat, come in." Static was her only answer. Suddenly, she heard the trademark ding of a bullet hit nearby and she rolled instinctively to the right, turning to the opposite direction of where she heard the bullet. Several ECG soldiers, cyborg Awakened, were coming in. She shot the first one with her GD-10 rifle, and the first shot hit it in the knee cap, causing it to fall to the side. She leapt over a large chunk of metal, using it as cover. Several more bullets hit, and she peeked up, aimed and fired, taking two more cyborgs out. She ducked again, one more to go. Setting the GD-10 to charge it's next shot, she got ready for her next attack.

She activated her suit's jump jets, launching out from her cover, and landed atop of the cyborg, the kinetic force more then enough to force him down. She then shot the cyborg in the head: Instant death as the charged and accelerated round went straight through the cranium, probably reducing it to slag. _Damn I love being able to charge up our rounds into something ionized,_ Sarah mused, considering it normally took several rounds from a rifle of the GD-10's caliber to punch through a cyborg's armor.

"_Captain Granger, please respond_." Said an official-like voice. _One of Mitchell's communication aides…_

"Granger here."

"_Captain Granger, this is Steel Talon Command. What's your status_?"

"We have a bunch of troopers down near the blast site. I need a MedEvac to get over there pronto; there's interference to radio transmissions, and the troopers' suits went offline from EMP. From the blast," she added for clarity.

"_Copy that. Your current location_?"

She took a quick glance, "_Kodiak_ crash site."

"_Copy that. Evac will be dispatched when available, we have our hands full_."

"Understood. I'll return to the downed troopers, so I'll be out of contact. Granger out." She whirled around, hearing a branch snap, holding her rifle ready and about to pull the trigger…

To see a Nod cyborg, of the Marked of Kane. She lowered her weapon, partially, keeping her finger on the trigger.

"Greetings, Captain." said the Enlightened cyborg in the typical monotone voice that had always had a side of arrogance to it, "Unit TK-421 reporting that all heretic units have been eradicated."

Sarah nodded hesitantly, "Right…" With that the cyborg walked off… "Hey, you might not of noticed, but you're missing your left arm."

"I comprehend the damage, unit 26-6958."

"The name's Granger. Captain _Sarah Granger_." She coldly responded, "I have a name, I'm not just a number."

"You are a cyborg warrior of the Marked of Kane, your desertion, while amusing to see, is only temporary, even if the Prophet does not see it as a threat."

"So much for cookie-cutter copies _'of emotionless, endlessly malleable cybernetic warriors that would do Kane's bidding without question',_ if you have your own opinions." She quoted one of the Nod source texts she had read during the years between her death at Mount Cheyenne and Kane meeting with GDI in Manchester.

"It is not opinion. It is fact."

"If you say so, like it or not, you're more of an individual then you know if you have doubts about Kane, no matter how faint. Don't take it hard; it's only natural."

The cyborg stopped, turning. _Ah crud,_ Sarah realized, _I just questioned his faith… biggest insult in Nod's arsenal, and cyborgs take it to the extreme with the programming, even more so then the most fanatical of militants._

"Say again, deserter?"

"You heard me."

"Yes… I did." The cyborg then whirled around and fired, the enhanced particle beam narrowly missing her. She rolled to the left, lancing the accelerated bullets from her GD-10 across the cyborg's arm armor. A few shots to the right arm and its only weapon left was removed. It moved forward, as it to smother her with his sheer weight… not that it would avail him at all.

"_Stand down, unit TK-421_."

"Complying." With that, the Enlightened ceased its assault.

"_Apologies, Captain. The long-time veterans always have loose wires_." LEGION explained, his voice echoing through her head as he 'borrowed' her EVA unit's link to communications, "_The tradeoff of combat ability and initiative when needed, however, makes up for it. Obviously such renegade actions are not tolerated._"

"Right…" Sarah said hesitantly before heading back to the ground zero of the explosion, wondering if LEGION was becoming more than a mere CABAL replacement...

XXXXXXX

**ECG Subterranean Base**

**Somewhere under Murmansk, Russia**

**Yellow Zone**

Sister Oriana Lawson tapped her fingers on the offline Cobra's controls as she waited for the Cobra to be brought fully into the underground base. She wondered about their mission; they blew up a lot of GDI soldiers, lost a lot more of their brethren, and the Tacitus exploded. _All in all, that didn't go well..._

"_So, Oriana,"_ asked her wingman, Derek, _"What do you think?"_

"I'd say we at least broke GDI's thought of their former last stands being invincible. Still; we didn't accomplish our main objective."

"_Yeah... Shame about the boss though, eh?"_

"Poor bastard is probably singing with the angels now," she remarked, "Least he took a Firehawk ace with him as an escort."

"_Yeah... oh; hang on; looks like we're in, they're disengaging the clamps."_

"Finally," she said as the Cobra was pulled into a small alcove built artificially to house it and unbuckled, walking out and looking around. The survivors were all hurt or damaged in some way, from armor dents to full blown missing limbs, but there was a sense of confusion in the air. Some thought they won, others were saying they had failed...

XXXXX

Brother Arian sighed as he was moved to the repair shop; it was grisly work, and he always hated being in the tank, the cold rush of purified water swimming with antibiotics and similar to ensure a clean transfer of cybernetics.

"OK Brother," said the scientists as a tube retracted, pointing, "That one's yours, go on and step in."

Resigning himself to a while of pain unbearable, he stepped in. The transparent Tiberium-derived steel glass cylinder closed around him, and his facemask was connected to a fresh breathing apparatus just inside the tank itself, clean to the point where it could be called a mental disorder.

XXXXXXX

**Near Hammerfest, Norway**

**Blue Zone**

Sarah returned to the explosion site, finding that most of the downed Zone Troopers had been taken out of their armor, and save for two or three with broken bones, most of them were simply bruised and battered, but not injured. She noted the presence of several gunshot dents in the taken-off and unsealed armor that were sitting next too, but otherwise, they got off far too lightly.

Except for Ahsoka, who was still unconscious, and if their fears were confirmed, dead.

"What's the word, Captain?" asked one of the Troopers.

"Evac is coming soon as it can be spared. I thought I said get to cover."

"There isn't any." said another soldier, "This is the best we have. The Zone Armor's fried, by the way. No chance of repair out here."

She nodded as the familiar and almost musical sound of Harrier Gunships was heard.

XXXXX

"OK," said the medic as they were flying back to the Hammerfest base, "She's just unconscious, as if she ran a hundred miles at a full sprint and collapsed once she succeeded, to give you an idea of what kind. Nothing to do but wait for her to come around. No wounds I can find otherwise, though her pulse is low enough I'm worried. We'll keep her in the base's hospital until she's awake and conscious."

Sarah nodded, "Let me know the moment her condition changes."

They landed and the unarmored Troopers went to the armory to get new suits… at the very least temporary ones. A soldier came up and instructed Sarah to meet Mitchell in Battlefield Control.

She entered to find a hell of a confusion, officers running every which way to try and coordinate clean up while outside, visible in the window, medics tending to soldiers dying of many horrible wounds; missing limbs, holes where there should of been flesh and bone, shredded faces bleeding out and people who looked like they would never truly live again...

"Captain," Mitchell said, nodding in a familiar way, his voice tired from the battle he had to coordinate, sitting out off as he ordered troops, informing them of updates, and trying to coordinate the hectic defense, "Take a look at this."

He was looking at a hologram, projected above the overview of the ending and ended battle… it was of a shard-like object, pulsing with light… and Sarah could catch the hint of an equation or two within, bouncing around…

"What is it?" Sarah asked.

"I'm not sure… but I think it's a shard of the Tacitus. That explosion wasn't human made, so I'm assuming it detonated. My guess is the _Kodiak_ going down destabilized it."

"Didn't happen in the First Firestorm," Sarah commented, "You can ask my fa- er, General Granger."

"I know. But then again, it wasn't whole then, was it? I think it's a similar situation, blown across the map… we traced several more of the shards to low-orbit; afterwards they fell back to earth. Unfortunately, we weren't able to trace most of them. One landed outside of Hammerfest, about 30 klicks south 'cross the fjords. Siegfried, one of my tank squadron leaders, reported its location, but there's interference and they can't lift the shard. It's about the size of a Hunter tank's wheel by description, and impossible to lift despite being lighter than vacuum; probably."

Sarah frowned. The Tacitus was roughly the size of an English soccer (foot)ball… the fact that it split into seven large sized wheel pieces was not something she wanted to try and figure out the logic behind.

"How's the commander?" Mitchell then asked, "Sounds like we need either her or Kane to get down there and investigate, or just something attuned to the Tacitus."

"Commander's deep unconscious; she knocked herself out covering her men from the blast."

Mitchell nodded gravely, "Understood. For now, I want you to go down there and help Siegfried fortify the place until we can get it out. We're working on restoring communications, our com relays took some hits and there's interference from the blast, but until they're repaired…"

"Understood."

XXXXX

**Hammerfest Tacitus Shard Site**

**30 Kilometers south of Hammerfest**

**Blue Zone**

Sarah nodded as Siegfried explained the situation and the entrances (all 360 degrees). "We're in the open out here, but the Rig you brought ought to allow us to hold the line here until we can get this out of here."

Sarah nodded, then turned to one of the Taskforce's recently-arrived trucks, which was moving a Firestorm AA Battery into position, "Move it to the right, we need it on that rise… there. Perfect."

"Frankly, Captain," Siegfried answered as he shook his head, "I don't see how that helps."

Sarah nodded, "It's an old adage my father told me for field work, _'If you have time to kill, spend it shoring up your hole.'_" She left out the rest; which usually went, _you might wind up lying in it for a 'long' time._

"And since we have time to kill with the remaining ECG soldiers in the area retreating on all fronts, you want the defenses as perfect as can be?"

"Basically… and it's something to do."

He nodded, "So AA gets the highest ground possible?"

"Usually. It depends on the situation; here it does, since its mostly flat ground. If we were surrounded by low cliffs, I'd actually give it to our Guardian cannons, to make sure they can shoot over any obstructions."

"Well, you're the officer, I'm the squad leader."

"Pays to know the basics either way." Sarah walked towards the Rig as it deployed into a standardized GDI battle base, properly armed with dual Rail Gun Guardian-class Cannons and a SAM launcher on top. "So, tell me about the shard."

"Well, we can touch it no problem, it doesn't seem to react, but if we try to _move_ it, it will remain in place defiantly, no matter what we do. It hasn't damaged anything yet, but it won't budge."

Sarah nodded, "No one hurt trying?"

"No, no one was hurt, but it mystifies me."

Sarah racked her brains, trying to think of what would be a logical explanation… it was a Tacitus shard… she then recalled Mount Cheyenne, how it had taken Ahsoka to keep the Tacitus stable for four years running…

"Maybe it takes a special touch," Sarah said, staying vague on the definition of 'touch'.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**The Two Days Later**

**January 15****th****, 2067**

**Steel Talon Headquarters**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka groaned, her whole body aching, screaming for rest… or for the pain to stop. She turned her head to the side, finding, to her surprise, there was a thin pillow under her head. It took her a few moments for her tired brain to figure out she was, once again, in a GDI medical bay. _Do I visit it every month?_ She wondered briefly. _Honestly, I'm surprised I'm not in a wheelchair by now…_ It then struck her that she might finally of overdone herself… she opened her eyes all the way. _Yep, Steel Talon medbay,_ she thought tiredly,_ again._

One of the medics, who was looking at an X-ray, turned, and looked out of what Ahsoka presumed to be the door, and said, "Hey, get the General, she's up!" The medic then walked over, pulling out a GDI medical scanner and scanning… "Vital signs stable and gently recovering… bruised bones, by the looks of it…" He paused, "All in all, another miraculous survival, Commander."

Ahsoka couldn't even offer a weak laugh at the thin sarcasm. And when she thought about it, she didn't want to. She wondered if she could slip into a trance unnoticed, the rest would feel _so_ good…

There was a gentle knock at the door, and Ahsoka caught a glance of Mitchell's (fashionably) worn dull-beige General's uniform, Second Tiberium War vintage with shiny new medal for GDI's insignia change. "How is she?" Mitchell asked, his voice haggard and tired... _There... there was a battle, right..._ she remembered, realizing Mitchell would of been organizing everything that had happened since.

"All things considered, she got off luckier then Havoc's gotten off…" the medic dryly responded.

"Yes, Havoc always did get the wounds; gunshots, flame thrower burns… Tiberium mutagen leaving his skin the wrong shade and nearly turning him into a Visceroid… direct hits from rocket launchers… even thrown down into a pit full of Tiberium gas and Nod experiments and came out without any lasting affects… hell, didn't he take direct hits from a stolen _Merlin_ Personal Ion Cannon and came out with just needing plastic surgery?"

"Well, he was one tough boot, wasn't he?"

"Amen to that. Specifically, the Commander is generally incapacitated by bruised bones, and her spine and… unique limbs may be dislocated from the blast. Still, I'm worried about her health considering she was out for two days."

_Two days?_ Ahsoka thought, shocked, but she tried to open her mouth, but nothing came out, instead appearing as more of a jaw drop.

Mitchell turned and looked at her directly, "How you feeling, Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out, and her throat felt dry, dry as a Tiberium desert, so dry that it hurt just inhaling.

Mitchell sighed, "Take it easy, Commander... Hey, doc! Can you give her anything to help out?"

"Drink of water maybe, but between the bruising and the aches she's probably suffering, regen shots or most medicines would probably hurt her rather than heal. I was hesitant about putting the nutrition paste down with a funnel."

"What about raw Tib? She heals in it." Mitchell said, "You try that?"

_OK, that's not true,_ Ahsoka thought, musing on that certain ability of hers, _I just draw power from it to speed up a Jedi Healing Trance, which works better then any of GDI's medical technology with the boost… usually._

"General, we're _not_ bringing raw Tiberium into a medical facility." The medic said in an offended tone, "First of all, paperwork galore, second, the chances of it getting to other patients who do _not_ share her…"

Mitchell cut him off, "I get it, I get it. Can we get her _to_ such a source though?"

"She's far from fit to travel, even in a medical stretcher."

"Doc, I respect you're talents, but we need her back in action ASAP. She's _not_ the average soldier, or even average _commando_, and you know it. What about refined Tib? The safe stuff."

"Probably not, General, it has the radiation reduced a thousand plus fold; she uses the radiation, right?"

"Get a Tib core in here. Maybe that'll work…"

"General, as I already…"

"That's an order, doctor. For Christ's sake, I don't even need one suited for a Titan, just the kind we use to power an infantry Rail Gun or even a pistol would do."

"General, I _must_ protest, bringing Tiberium, even in such a stable container, and then exposing it, is violation of at least five GDI regulations, and dozens of international medical regulations dating before you were born, never mind the oath I swore, the Hippocratic Oath, the oath every doctor and man of medicine…"

"Fine." Mitchell said, huffing, "Do a full check up, and call me if her condition changes." Sighing, he added, "I have to get back to work and there's a lot of arrangements I need to make." He turned his head to Ahsoka, nodding… and giving a wink.

_Oh boy,_ Ahsoka realized, _He's hauling in a Liquid T core himself, isn't he?_

The medic grumbled about Mitchell's 'aggressive medicine' as he returned to his console, which seemed to, now Ahsoka could hear and see it (somewhat), to be monitoring her life signs. The steadily, gently increasing rate of the beep was somehow reassuring. She still felt paralyzed… no, not paralyzed, too weak, as she lay there. One of the medics brought in some water later, which felt surprisingly like the stuff of life itself for her dry throat as they slipped it through the funnel every GDI hospital had for when a patient couldn't feed his or herself...

XXXXX

**Steel Talon Command Center**

Mitchell muttered a tired curse under his breath as he entered. Several holograms were before him; McNeil, Rex, Granger, and Kane. The former three were in blue, while Kane was in a red hologram.

"Everyone out," Mitchell said, "EVA, privacy mode."

Officers closed down and redirected their duties to the secondary command center, got up, and left. EVA then placed a steel-iron circle around the communications chamber, giving Mitchell perfect privacy within the room.

Rex couldn't contain it, "What happened to Ahsoka? Is she alright?"

"She's alive." Mitchell said, sighing, "The Doc says that she bruised every bone in her body. Kane, you're our resident enigma, you have an answer?" Mitchell put a deep, cold edge into his voice as he addressed the Nod leader. _Even with this alliance, even if he's part of our little circle because he caused it to be needed and because he _knows_ about shit, he's still a mass murderer. We just can't break the alliance without screwing all of humanity as well. Soon as we can do it without that, we're bringing him to justice before he gets underground._

Kane rubbed his chin, considering, as if consulting a data base. "No," He said at last, "Not directly, at least. Perhaps it was the strain. Rex, you knew her longer then all of us. What's your answer to how she'd get into such a state just blocking a burst of such a magnitude energy?"

Rex scowled at Kane, then said, "I think it was because of how much she drew on the Force. She drew on it enough that, without using Tiberium as a substitute for her own limits, she hurt herself doing so. I've seen it happen before, to both her and others, it usually takes a while to recover… but I've never seen it that bad without some blaster burns involved, usually after extended combat periods."

"So lemme get this straight," McNeil said, "She blocks the blast, and uses so much power, possibly even her own life, for lack of better term, and now she's in a proverbial coma when we need her most?"

"Considering the alternative," Granger said, sighing, "I think we got dealt a fair hand."

"Maybe; but we're still no closer to solving the mystery, and Rios is getting impatient."

Mitchell snorted, "Since when did we give a fuck about Rios' opinions, Mack? She wants to try and lift raw data, she's welcome to try. Tell her she can talk to me in person at the shard site if she complains."

"What about the other shard we traced?" Rex asked, "The one that landed on the North American Eastern Seaboard?"

"Still looking for it," Granger answered, "Sergeant Granger sent me a report; his squad is in the search grid area and they're finding shrapnel of the impact."

Rex nodded, Mitchell could make out a hint of worry in his face, "They have the necessities to fortify?"

"No, not yet. I'm trying to send troops from the Chicago Hub, my garrison is busy handling ECG strikes across the area on our food processing centers, but Rios is refusing to send anyone until we have a confirmed location."

Rex sighed, "So be it. Kane, what about the shard that landed in Sarajevo? That's _your_ playground."

"LEGION and the Insurgent have secured it and are defending it against ECG strikes, but neither of them are able to recover it. LEGION is… perturbed that it seems to _resist_ him now."

"That's not good," McNeil said. "If your Tacitus-derived and ascended pet can't touch those things, I don't see how anyone can."

"Ahsoka said the Tacitus was like a Holocron, from back home," Rex said, "May need her touch to deal with."

"Agreed," Mitchell said, _though really, I think we all figured it out by now._ "What worries me more is how easily the Tacitus exploded. According to eyewitness reports from Ahsoka's team during the battle, an ECG confessor, bearing the Tacitus, shouted, quote, "You won't take us, or the Tacitus, _alive!_" unquote, then proceeded to smash it into the ground, creating the nuclear-like explosion. I don't get how some common grunt could blow it up like that."

"Perhaps," Kane said, frowning, "he is sensitive? Uniquely suited, of the vein of the Forgotten leader, Tratos, or even Ahsoka's line of work."

"That," Rex said, frowning, "is unlikely; even more so that he'd happen to know how to blow the Tacitus up. And how the heck did it even become those larger sized pieces anyways? Just one of those shards is bigger then the whole Tacitus."

"I would think," Kane said, "that it is related to the explosion process. If so, the Tacitus may become larger then before once reassembled."

"Well that'd make it hell to carry," McNeil said sarcastically. "First things first, we need to find the shard. We only confirmed and secured one, and a second is only a rough area, the third is being fought over as we speak… the others, about nine to eleven thousand square kilometers of search area at minimal, and that's if we even have a rough area to even start."

"And there are six shards total, not counting the one we secured." Granger continued, frowning.

"We have to find all of them," Mitchell said, "This may be more important then the TCN right now. For all we know, the Tacitus, or one of those data segments, may have all Gideon or _anyone_ needs to destroy the TCN from afar and without defense. Or at least known defense."

"That is being mild, General." Kane said, looking grim, "The loss of the Tacitus may very well spell the end of _all_ we have worked for, both GDI… and Nod. We have derived much from the Tacitus... the TCN, much of our new technology; if it contains knowledge to _make_ such, then perhaps it will have the knowledge to _unmake_ them."

XXXXX

**January 16****th****, 2067**

**Sarajevo**

**Bosnia and Herzegovina**

**(Former) Yugoslavia**

**Yellow Zone**

"LEGION, what's the status on the Obelisk?" asked the Insurgent as she ordered a squad of Tiberium Troopers to secure a bunker, which was held down by ECG militants, and watched as the militants were melted out of their cover, screaming in pain as their flesh boiled and melted into a liquid form. The battle had been going tight, an _Isis Six_-class Obelisk of Light had been deployed and was key to holding the Shard site, once it was fully established, this heavily upgraded Obelisk (using an experimental internal power source, leaving it at full power even if cut off from external power) would allow them to hold the Shard with much more ease with its insanely increased range. The shard had landed, and easily destroyed, most of the Idris work camp, built near Temple Prime's ruins. There was also a now-ruined GDI base, which was also practically destroyed by the shard landing. She was now making use of the GDI base facilities to repair and rearm her forces, and repairing them for continued use later on… perhaps as part of a Brotherhood of Nod base. After all, Sarajevo was a Nod holy site, even if allied with GDI, the Brotherhood should not have to let GDI walk all over it.

"Obelisk at 50% integrity and offline, Saboteurs are working on returning it to working condition."

"Very well. I want Black Hand squads four and five to move up and reclaim the airstrip. Flame Tank ten is to support them."

Two dozen Black Hand soldiers, some with flamethrowers, others with laser assault rifles, moved up and retook the airstrip. Meanwhile the Flame Tank, one of the new AT-6 models, focused incinerating the ECG soldiers holding it down from an old and conveniently abandoned warehouse, the enemy soldiers screaming as they ran with blue flames liquefying them alive. They then destroyed a landed ECG aircraft, which was unloading new Scorpion Tanks, resembling a cross between the Black Hand's First Tiberium War era Light tanks, but the front was gracefully curved, the tread design was a dual-tread similar to the GDI Predator or Sheppard, except covered, and it's turret was about the size of a GDI Hunter Tanks, not overly large for size. Two Nod Avenger tanks rolled up and traded volleys with the two Scorpions, winning, but both were nearly destroyed. The ECG tank was only just under the power of the Nod tank. The ability of ECG to develop tanks and new weaponry able to match the mainline of the Brotherhood, which had easily several times the resources as ECG…_ That_ was a worrying prospect.

"Unit Lost." LEGION said in a deadpan tone as the Insurgent saw a Nod Avatar be destroyed by a team of ECG Deathless. "Obelisk of Light: 65% integrity."

"Keep the repairs up. What's the status of the War Factory?"

"War Factory online. We are manufacturing Avatars and I am establishing uplinks from the Datacore."

"Good. Keep me informed of any snags." She turned her attention back to the battlefield. ECG was putting up a good fight for heretics, she had to admit, but they were in need of a major equipment update. The Avenger, although matched by the Separatist's Scorpion 2.0 (or was it a 1.5? Many of the enemy tanks had customization jobs), they still maintained an advantage over its ECG counterpart. The Black Hand soldiers (loyalists, of course) advanced and shot down a dozen hostile Awakened with their laser assault rifles. _It's definitely satisfying,_ the Insurgent decided as she watched the heavily armored Black Hand soldiers on the offensive, _to see the enemy destroyed by Kane's elite soldiers._

A fresh Avatar deployed from the War Factory, and LEGION reported a successful uplink from his datacore. The new Avatar moved up and fired its four cannon arms, blasting away a newly deployed ECG tank.

"Obelisk of Light at 75% integrity. Enemy Aircraft detected on vector four. They will arrive if two minutes."

"I see them." She answered as she turned her view screen to the site. Indeed, a squadron of twelve ECG Cobras was flying in; their intent was clear; abuse the main weakness of the Obelisk and destroy the defending soldiers of Nod... "LEGION, do you have the blueprints for the new Mantis?"

"Affirmative."

"Good. Have the War Factory begin construction and redirect the crews. I know, they aren't fully tested or ready, but we need the anti-air punch."

"Complying." The Insurgent watched as the Cobras were chased down by a group of six Nod Venom craft; their rockets knocked down a Cobra in the first barrage, but the Cobras responded with their heavy cannons, the size, although unwieldy against other aircraft, hit by sheer virtue of the Venom relying a considerable amount on swarm tactics. One of the Venom went down… no, three, as it fell down, it hit two others and took them out too.

"_Mantis platform standing by_." Reported someone, a woman. The Insurgent turned the view screen to the War Factory… the new _Mantis_-class rocket platform was ready. The War Factory was still producing, and sure enough, a second one joined it shortly after. It almost looked truck like, with a treaded wheel system, atop of which was the cockpit, situated in front of between two heavy rocket batteries. It also had, behind the main system, a trailer, for lack of better term, with equipment to carry Nod's Surface-to-Surface missiles. Unfortunately, it was not armed with such today.

"Excellent," the Insurgent said, "Mantis one and two, move to grid Seven-One," the airfield, "and target enemy Cobra-class fighter/gunships."

"_Yes ma'am_." The Mantises moved into position at the airfield and opened fire, their rockets hitting the enemy aircraft as they began their strafing run on the Black Hand infantry in the area. Several of the Marked of Kane's Deathless cyborgs also joined, gunning down the ECG Cobras, but there was not a lack of casualties. The Cobras managed to destroy the AT-6 Flame Tank. The boxier Flame Tank exploded as its armor plating around the fuel tanks failed, and the tanks were ignited. Several Black Hand soldiers were taken with it, burning to crisps as the flame literally cooked them inside out.

"Unit Lost." LEGION registered.

"A shame." The Insurgent answered, feeling the slightest twang of pity that such steadfast soldiers were killed in such a pathetic way. She shoved it away quickly. _Shit happens. This is war._

"Obelisk of Light at 90% integrity. Obelisk of Light: Online."

"Excellent… and just in time. I'm seeing an ECG Tank Division coming in. Avenger Lead, come in."

"_Avenger Lead reporting_."

"Move your tanks to grid square four-one, and hold the line against the incoming ECG tanks."

"_Certainly, ma'am_." With that, the fifteen Avenger tanks (all sporting some form of battle damage) moved to position. It was an excellent place for a tank battle; in what was once a civilian park, and was now a Tiberium field… which happened to be in perfect range for the upgraded Obelisk of Light.

The ECG Scorpions moved in, the twenty tanks moving up. The lead tank opened fire…

The Obelisk of Light charged, the distinct hum echoing across the field…

And suddenly, a giant, red laser instantly hit the lead ECG Scorpion Tank, blowing the advanced model to so much scrap metal in not even a millisecond. The ECG tank division skidded to a halt in surprise, and the Avengers took advantage of that, hammering the enemy tanks with their 140 millimeter cannons and blowing them apart, and the Obelisk fired again… and again. The ECG forces finally got their nerve together and retreated, rolling backwards and keeping their dozer blade-like front armor facing the Avenger tanks. Not that it helped them very much if the Avengers aimed higher, Nod's (and by extension, ECG's) specialized Dozer blades were designed for tanks moving forward, not falling back.

"Obelisk of Light at 100% integrity and is fully operational."

"Good. Kane will be pleased."

ECG got the idea after that battle, especially once SAM sites were set up around the Obelisk; it would take considerable artillery to take out the defensive position now, for ground would be demolished by the Obelisk of Light, while aircraft would be blown apart by the SAM sites.

XXXXX

**Tiberium Field #401  
Pennsylvania State (formerly)**

**North American Eastern Seaboard**

**Yellow Zone**

Coric reloaded as he shot down yet another ECG scout. They couldn't be much farther from the shard site now. This was an unusual Tiberium field; the crystalline Tiberium was so large, they easily would of counted as crystal trees… and it was thick, thick like a jungle.

Warren cursed suddenly; he fell into a concealed booby-trap.

"Warren, you alright?" Coric asked, leaning over the edge of it.

"I'm alright… some idiot forgot the spikes. Who made this trap, a militant?"

_Probably,_ Coric mused, keeping the sarcastic answer in his head. "You need a hand?"

Warren answered by jump jetting out of the hole. Coric had recently requisitioned for, and finally got, the 'Assault Packs' for his platoon. _Goddamn things should be standard issue, too many cliffs..._

"Air Captain Blade to Sergeant Granger, please respond."

"I copy Blade, what's your status?"

"I have my eye on an ECG tank, unknown type. Looks like a cross between a Tib War Three Scorpion and a Black Hand Tib War One Light tank."

Coric didn't try to imagine it… he'd see later. "Copy that. You need help?"

"Negative, but they're moving with enough purpose and speed I think they found it."

"Not good... Copy that Blade; see if you can find where they're going. Granger out."

Warren checked the condition of his Rail Gun, and nodded, "Nothing damaged sir."

"Let's go." Coric answered, gesturing. They continued, heading towards where Blade predicted the ECG tanks were going.

The found themselves in a clearing… an abnormally large one, one that had been created by a _recent_ explosion. In the center was a glowing white shard, perfectly fitting the description he'd been given.

"Blade, we found it. Coordinates 5, 11, 77."

"Copy that, those enemy tanks are heading right for you by the looks of it."

He heard the sounds of Orca VTOL engines, and turned: Sure enough, Blade and his squadron were barraging an enemy with rockets… and with a crash and explosion, the 'wall' (really, a hedge-like piece of Tiberium standing about 20 feet tall) they were hovering over exploded: The two enemy tanks came through and opened fire, missing due to being mobile… and probably pathetic vehicular training. Coric returned fire, his Rail Gun leaving a large dent in his target's armor.

Coric heard someone activate their armor's jump jets, and sure enough, Warren was airborne, dealing death from above to the enemy tanks, getting two shots off, hitting the tanks' turrets, before landing a distance away. The enemy tanks attempted to track him, but only received a pounding from the GDI platoon, and were obliterated by the barrage of rockets, Rail Gun rounds, and rapid-fire 'blast' lasers used by the Zone Enforcers in the platoon.

"Blade, any other hostiles on radar?"

"Yes sir, ECG search parties are convening on our location." Blade responded, "I'm bringing my squadron over to the site for landing and repair. Kerri, mark us a site."

One of the engineers attached to Blade's squadron set up markers, and Blade's squadron, half of them flying Orcas, half of them Hurricanes, landed. The aircraft were repaired/rearmed by the engineers. While that went on, Coric radioed command with the coordinates and coordinated the construction of makeshift defenses, barricades, to help defend the site until reinforcements showed up. Christian Peirce was being dispatched from Chicago with an MCV and armor, if he heard scuttlebutt right.

"Hang on…" Blade said, fear in his voice, "Crap! Sarge, Ion Storm manifesting!"

Coric swore loudly, _There goes our main edge over these ECG clowns!_

Ionic lightning began to crackle, the loud _bangs _echoing throughout the area as the after-lightning thunder struck. He recalled an adage his mother told him that ZOCOM used, _"Ion Lightning _**will**_ strike the same place twice."_

"Sir, we need to get into cover." Warren said, sitting next to him behind the barricade… for all the good it did them.

"I know… we don't have enough and we're fresh out of cover."

Bert skidded to a halt nearby, crouching as best he could with his heavy power cell backpack. Coric pitied the Enforcers under his command, the burlier soldiers couldn't take proper cover due to the large equipment they carried to feed their Gatling-blast-laser machine guns, which Coric, taking after his father and Ahsoka, called 'Gatling blasters'. He knew it was only a matter of time until the term developed into the slang of GDI, but for now, the long-winded version would have to do.

Peering over the edge, he saw a few ECG cyborgs.

"Look alive, I spot four wakies coming in, ECG." Coric warned, shifting the safety off and making sure his rail gun was set to kill. He waited, but the four Awakened cyborgs rushed forward, opening fire and missing terribly. Coric and Warren, simultaneously, rose out of cover and fired, Coric's shot hitting the leader in the leg, blowing it in a direction it was never meant to bend and causing the cyborg to collapse, screaming as a mix of hydraulic fluid and blood sprayed out from the blown-open kneecap. Warren's shot, however, was a perfect, Commando-grade headshot, the accelerated bullet from his rail gun seeming to naturally incline towards the cyborg's head, and it hit dead on, blasting the (comparatively) weakly armored head… or more accurately, completely _obliterated_ it. The cyborg toppled over and collapsed like it was part of an extremely violent Friday night cartoon.

Bert and a pair of Zone Enforcers then jumped onto the top of the barricade, and opened fire, their rounds peppering the cyborgs with hundreds of dents a minute, and it didn't even take a whole five seconds to take down the surviving cyborg units.

Ion lightning continued to pound the area, but seemed to be avoiding the area with the Tacitus shard. Coric didn't know if it was chance or design… there was _not_ an 'eye of the storm' with an Ion Storm, and if you were in it, the only guaranteed way to get away was to get _out_ of the Ion Storm… and for good measure, as _far_ away as possible.

More ECG soldiers, in small squads and occasionally a singular tank, continued to come. Coric was mystified; their best bet was to group up and attack… why hadn't they? _Probably don't know where each other are thanks to the storm… thank you mother nature._ When he stopped to think about it, he had a feeling that Tiberium was not something mother nature was very happy about…

Bang. He ducked as another Awakened squad attempted to break in, guns blazing. He reloaded, aimed, and fired, hitting a twenty meter away cyborg in the chest and blowing it ten meters backwards, such was the kinetic force of the shot.

Warren, who was shooting from a makeshift rise, ducked as he reloaded, "If this keeps up, we'll get creamed by sheer attrition!"

"I know," Coric said as he rose, taking a potshot at an ECG tank that was shelling (quite poorly) at their position. His shot left a crater in the tank's armor. Another two shots from both of them finished the tank off, penetrating into its Liquid Tiberium core and causing it to explode, shredding the tank from the inside and leaving it a scrappy husk.

ECG squads kept coming, and in greater frequency. Coric was amazed how they seemed to keep coming… and was glad that they were almost wholly poorly-trained (if at all) cyborgs with the very rare tank, and always uncoordinated. _Thank whatever's out there for idiots,_ Coric thought grimly as he shot another Awakened cyborg and reloaded. He was going to need to grab another couple clips soon.

He suddenly felt something slam into his torso and cut through hits armor: he took a direct hit to the side, and he staggered back, stars exploding in front of him as the shock took affect.

"Coric!" Warren shouted, rising up and firing, keeping Coric covered as he tried to seal the wound. _**God**__ that hurts…_ Coric thought as he felt himself bleeding out…

"Medic!" Warren shouted as he reloaded, "Sarge's down!" But the unit's (combat) medic was busy with other soldiers.

"I'm… fine," Coric grunted, his suit's assessment of the damage fairly positive: It hit his side, but it only opened a nasty cut. He counted himself lucky and injected painkiller, feeling some blessed relief as the pain receded. _Anyone can die,_ Coric remembered, _no one is immortal... except maybe Kane, but that's probably just because we haven't used a big enough gun..._

Ten minutes later of various ECG squads stumbling in, they finally had a respite. He took it. "Everyone check in."

Most people responded… but they took casualties. Almost everyone was wounded, but there were at least eight fatalities. He sighed, hoping that whatever they got after, it was just. The notion of his own troops getting sent to literal Hell was not something he wanted to think about. They pulled the dead away from the barricades, and Coric took the time to look at who they were and how they died. Most of them had suffered from suit failure combined with piercing bullets, which lodged themselves in various places in the torso, but one, a Zone Enforcer, Aaron, had taken a direct hit to the head from a tank shell… there was nothing left there save for burnt, melted metal from what _was_ the helmet part of his Zone Armor. He didn't want to know what condition the rest of the poor soldier's body was in, especially considering a second tank hit to the chest area.

The Ion Storm was clearing, and radar was partially online. He waited a minute for it to start scanning, reestablishing itself and updating, and saw that Christian Peirce's forces were coming in via Harrier Gunship, and were just outside the storm, entering the area as it cleared.

"Sir," said someone behind him, it was the unit medic, "I was told you took a hit."

"Yeah," Coric said, "according to the suit's readout, it wasn't that bad."

The medic walked up and scanned, "Fairly accurate assessment, but I want you to come in and get that checked out…"

"Help the others first," Coric said, "I'm fine."

"I've already helped the others."

"You _sure_?"

"Damn it Sergeant," the medic said, "I'm the one who may be pulling you out of the literal flames one day, so shut up and let me check."

Admitting defeat, Coric submitted to the medic's examination. It turned out that he had some Tiberium poisoning, but nothing that the resistance he inherited from his father couldn't handle. The medic, for good measure, sealed the opened area after injecting a countermeasure shot.

Twenty minutes later, chest bound and his suit near full integrity again, Coric walked up to the landing zone, with Warren next to him. A Harrier touched down and Christian Peirce, suited up in GDI Commando armor and bearing a Captain's insignia, walked out.

"Sergeant Granger," Christian said, offering a nod as Coric saluted him. "Been some time, huh?"

"It has, sir."

"I never thanked you for the help. Out of curiosity, what happened to the pick-up?"

"Still warehoused if you want to recover it."

"Thank you; I'll have to handle that later. For now, what's the situation?"

"ECG forces attempted to take the area, but we managed to hold. We suffered a lot of minor to moderate wounds and lost a fifth of our platoon, sir."

Christian nodded, "I'm sorry." he paused a moment, then continued, "As soon as the MCV gets our barracks complexes up, have your men pick the bunks they want. In the meantime, feel free to harass my medics about getting the wounded tended to."

Coric suppressed a grin at the term 'harass', and said, "Thank you sir."

"Oh, Sergeant." Christian said as he turned, "If you're up for it, I'd like to see you at the shard site as soon as you've finished with your men."

"Yes sir."

XX

**Forty Minutes Later**

**Eastern Seaboard Tacitus Shard Site**

**Pennsylvania State, USA**

**Yellow Zone**

Coric, after making sure everyone was alright and helping everyone settle in, met with Peirce at the site, Warren insisting on joining him. Christian was studying the shard intently.

"Sergeant." Christian finally said, "I want your opinion. Leave it here, or pick it up?"

"Rios didn't update you with the Hammerfest studies?"

"No. What do you know?"

"That GDI soldiers can't lift it. Not that it hurts them, it just refuses to lift."

Christian nodded, extending a hand hesitantly…

The moment he touched it, it surged, and it surged with a bright white pulse of a power, an energy, that Coric did not want to know about. The surge rushed through Christian's body, arcing across his limbs like electricity in a Friday night cartoon, and then launched Christian a good twenty-five meters back, sending him directly into the wall of the deployed MCV, where he almost hovered for a second, then he fell about five feet, landing on his feet consciously, but stumbling to the ground.

Coric didn't waste time, and neither did Warren, they rushed forward, catching Christian before he planted his face into the Tiberium crystal ground.

Christian looked drained, and Coric was at a loss. _By all indications, it's safe to touch… why did it react like that?_ Christian seemed to be thinking the same thing, a low, barely audible 'ow' escaping his lips.

"Sir, you alright?"

A few choice curses later, Christian answered, "Yeah. Doesn't hurt huh?"

"Sorry sir. I just passed on what I had."

"Don't be, not your fault. Maybe each shard is different."

Coric frowned, but Warren, likely indulging in the ego that his uncle was famous for, walked up to it and touched it. He wasn't blown back like a rag doll; in fact, it almost seemed to like him.

"I guess that didn't work," Christian commented with a sigh. "Can you lift it, Corporal Parker?"

Warren tried, and it actually lifted it… but otherwise, no avail, it refused to, besides being held in the air directly above its crash site, be moved anywhere, and once it got about four feet into the air, it refused to go any higher. Warren let go; the shard gently floated down.

"No sir," Warren said, surprised, "but I think this is farther then anyone else got."

"Interesting." Christian remarked, "Maybe your uncle rubbed off on you."

"He has his tendency towards headshots at extreme range," Coric answered truthfully, "and he was taught how to kill a man fifteen different ways with his bare hands. When he was four."

XXXX

**8:00 PM Local Time**

**January 18****th****, 2067**

**Hammerfest Tacitus Shard Site**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Blue Zone**

Ahsoka, who was only just been cleared from the medical bay, stepped off the Harrier Gunship, and Mitchell was next to her. Ahsoka stumbled, she was still weak, but she was self sufficient, Mitchell moved to catch her, but she was able to catch herself.

She shivered, despite being in full GDI Commando armor (excluding, as usual, the helmet), having been in the heated building for the last half-week, she hadn't been outside, and wasn't used to it. She had certainly left the medics with a nightmare; she wasn't the happiest patient. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate them helping her, after all, they helped her get back into action quickly and kept her from living the rest of her (however long) life in a wheelchair or worse, on her back. What she hated was when she wasn't able to take care of herself… _"I mean, sure, it makes sense"_ she had remarked after she looked too uncomfortable for the medic after he was forced to spoon-fed her since she couldn't move, despite her best efforts and her failing concentration keeping her from using the Force, _"it's just that I hate being dependant and well… kind of feels wrong to need to be spoon fed at this age, considering what I can do." _The medic chuckled, but fortunately, the next day she had regained enough control to be able to feed herself with difficulty, she couldn't walk yet though. It took two more days before she regained enough strength to move wholly independently. Mitchell had filled her in as they arrived.

They walked up to the site, where Sarah and Siegfried were discussing the recent ECG strike… or so they thought, they were actually sharing jokes,

"So she said to him, 'you can just kiss my shiny ass General Mc'" Siegfried spontaneously stopped suddenly as he realized who was behind him, "- er, Mitchell sir!"

Mitchell, wearing a smile that a certain smuggler would be proud of, said, "Go on, finish the joke, I'm sure it's good for polite company."

Sarah, who had set her helmet's faceplate 'fogging' to leave her face visible, rolled her eyes.

"Well, enough with the jokes. Corporal, make sure the area is secure. Commander?"

She nodded, "If what Rex thinks is right, I should be able to move it… I hope." She stepped into the blast site, and laid a hand on the shard.

Immediately she felt a _very_ familiar presence… it was _definitely_ part of the Tacitus, she knew it. It reacted to her as a computer reacts to someone with the right password (_if that is the best way to describe it_, she mused), and opened itself up… and much more openly then before.

_Lift,_ she thought, hoping it would respond. It seemed to react, and she shut her eyes, gently applying Force pressure below it, and it rose. She began to pull it back…

She suddenly had to let go, a sudden surge of pain from her aching limbs causing her to drop the pressure, shattering her concentration. The shard didn't seem affected, but gently came down and landed.

"Well," Mitchell said, "that's farther than before."

Ahsoka nodded, "I think I can move it, but I'm not sure if I need to walk it back or if I can get on a Harrier."

"Well, get some rest, we need to discuss getting you to the other shard sites after this and where to put the shards anyways." Mitchell ordered calmly. Ahsoka knew where they intended to store them: The _GST Methuselah_, which was now serving as the flagship of the GST fleet and was standing by to receive the shards.

As Ahsoka entered the makeshift barracks that had been set up, Sarah (who walked in behind her), asked, "How you feeling?"

"Better," Ahsoka answered, "Still sore, but I'm not stuck in a wheelchair."

"Maybe one day," Sarah joked, and Ahsoka couldn't help but chuckle briefly.

"No thanks," Ahsoka finally answered, "I like being able to walk."

"Well, with how good medicine is these days, you probably won't have to worry about it. Worse case worse, cybernetics."

Ahsoka gave Sarah a quizzical tilt, unsure if she heard that right.

XXXX

**ECG Headquarters**

**Girauld-Mobius Tiberium Crater**

**Himalaya Mountains**

**Red Zone**

Gideon observed the reports, his fingers crossed like a tent as he looked at the large map of the world on the war room's wall; They had located another shard, which had landed in one of his bases, which had suffered heavy damage from the landing and was out of contact. A second one was in Australia... _Three in the heretic's hands, one open, and one in my control... two more remain to be found._

"Tell me, Vizier," Gideon asked, "How goes our recovery?"

"There are questions of our victory, or whether it is a victory or not," answered one of his Viziers, the ECG and Nod equivalent to a General after the Third Tiberium War, "But we recover quickly, as more disillusioned and faithful join us and our younger generation becomes of age. Our recruitment continues, and as we modernize, we prepare for when we launch the true crusade to rid the world of _GDI_."

XXXX

**The Next Day, Early Morning (APX. 6:00 AM Local Time)**

**January 19****th****, 2067**

**Hammerfest Tacitus Shard Site**

**Hammerfest, Norway**

**Blue Zone**

Sarah watched as Ahsoka, recovered a bit more and rested, walked up and placed her hands on the Tacitus shard, and focused, lifting the shard up effortlessly. _Amazing what a little magic can do,_ Sarah remarked.

Ahsoka moved it, holding it as she pushed, for lack of better description, the shard towards the Harrier, and placed it onboard, maintaining control and stepping on herself. The Harrier and its Firehawk escort flew towards Hammerfest, where they'd load onto a proper shuttle to take it to space. The Steel Talons were at full alert, and squadrons were combing the area for ECG surprises.

"Well, we'd best be going," Mitchell said as he gestured another Harrier, "I'm supposed to meet the Generals on the _Methuselah_ before the shard arrives… and you've been requested to come to."

"Not Rex, was it?" Sarah asked.

"Nah, wasn't him... it's actually Riggs."

"Really?" Sarah asked, surprised, "Why's that? We never interacted, I never served under him… thinking about it, I basically pissed him off down in Sparta."

"No clue, but you'll be able to justify seeing Rex before the Taskforce secures other Tacitus shards."

"Point." Sarah said as they walked onto the Harrier. It lifted off, and soon they were at Hammerfest Base.

Ahsoka was already loading the shard onto the shuttle, and guards were tense. They all expected ECG to attack, and if they did, they knew that it was going to be an all-or-nothing fight-to-the-end-and-beyond battle: They could not afford ECG to acquire a single Tacitus shard; the danger was far too great.

XXXX

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

Rex looked out the window, gazing down at Earth, sighing. So much of it was still covered in toxic Tiberium green, particularly virulent cases still visible from space. It was going to be more then his lifetime before Earth was ever properly restored… _And Coric is going to be the one defending it,_ Rex decided, _and probably his children and their children…_ He hoped that he hadn't, by example, turned a whole family into soldiers, including subsequent generations, those generations he was fighting to make sure had peace. _No,_ Rex decided, _if they don't want to, I don't blame any of them, 'living up to the family name' or not. War is hell, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone's children._

"General." Said someone behind him, and to his surprise, it was Riggs.

"General Riggs?" Rex asked, turning. "What can I do for you?"

"After the recovery of the shard, I want to meet you in my office."

"Sure." Rex said, keeping his face straight. Low frequency alarm bells had been set off in his head, and he had suspicions. He'd make sure to bring his pistols to the meeting… not that he anticipated needed them, he was a good enough fighter with his hands and could easily overpower Riggs or even his commando-armored security guards hand to hand, he preferred dual pistols over dual fists. Also, he was never at home without his trusty pistols.

"Very well. The shuttle will be docking shortly; I want everyone present for the meeting in regards for our strategy." With a nod, Riggs walked off.

XX

**One Hour Later**

Rex watched as Ahsoka let go, letting the Tacitus shard land in the pre-prepared storage area, which was in the center of the ship in its most armored area, and nodded. It wasn't falling through or anything, and as the ship was moving around Earth orbit, it seemed to not be trying to fly through the walls, or rather, _float_ through them.

"How you feeling, Commander?" Rex asked, keeping the formality up.

"I'm fine, thank you, General." Ahsoka responded, the formality sounding unusual coming from her. _Maybe it's because we never really used it._ Rex mused privately.

"Very well." Riggs said, "Follow me, Commander." It sounded rough coming from him.

Within the main briefing hall, Rex and the Generals sat down in the senior officer areas, while Ahsoka and a couple other officers (including, to Rex's surprise, Sarah) sat at the junior officer seats. Rex glanced down at his seat; as usual, it included a database access.

"Very well," General Riggs said, "We've secured the first shard, and two more are ready for recovery. One in the North American Eastern Seaboard, in old Pennsylvania, and another in Sarajevo. The former is held by GDI soldiers, the latter by Nod."

Mitchell nodded, "I suggest we get the one in Sarajevo first; it's closest to the front."

"I was actually thinking we should get the one in Pennsylvania first," General Locke said, "It's in the open and there's only a small, hastily established outpost defending it, and there's an increase of ECG activity in that area. Gideon knows it's vulnerable."

"Have we located any other shards?" Mitchell asked.

"No, General. For now, we need to recover these two ASAP." Riggs answered.

General Granger nodded, glancing down towards his daughter, and Rex knew what he was thinking: _Why the heck is she here? She's barely ranking enough to be needed at this meeting._ Rex shared those thoughts, especially since she was the only junior officer there.

"I believe we have a plan then, for the recovery of the next two shards." Riggs said, "The Commander," he looked at Ahsoka, "will go and recover them, and bring them here, while we form search grids and look for the other shards in radar jammed zones." That is, anywhere there was an Ion Storm interfering with radar. "General Locke, you have experience in Red Zone ops, I trust this to you."

"Yes sir." Locke answered, "I'll send Bloodhounds out as soon as I get back to base."

"Very well. Commander, dismissed. Head to the first site and recover the shard. As soon as we find another, we'll contact you."

"Yes, sir." Ahsoka answered, pushing herself up, saluting briefly, and walking out.

"Too much commando in that one." Locke commented as soon as Ahsoka was out of (presumed) earshot.

"She _is _a Commando," McNeil pointed out, "so it's not surprising."

"Gentlemen," General Nagama said, "She may be the only one we know capable of moving those shards, but this discussion is for the ward room, _not_ an official meeting."

"Right. So, ZOCOM will search the Americas, the Talons will search Eastern Europe and work with Nod forces," Locke expanded, "RAID will stand by to reinforce any located sites, and General Nagama will begin searching the Pacific."

"Who's going to be searching Africa or Asia?" Rex asked, frowning.

"General Nagama will cover that as well, and you'll support him." Riggs said, "and General Granger will head to Africa."

Granger nodded, "Won't take too long once we acquire permissions from the local Forgotten governments."

"General," Riggs said, "I share your concern, but we need to secure the knowledge these shards have before they can be acquired by any enemy, overt or covert."

"The Forgotten are _not_ our enemies, General." McNeil said coldly and steadily. "Suggesting that they are is putting us on the slippery slope."

Riggs sighed, "General, I respect your opinion, but if you didn't notice, the Forgotten _abandoned the Alliance_ when we needed them the most."

"He's right, General." Said Locke, "I asked a colony to send help when a TCN site was under attack; none came and we were told they had no interest in getting involved in the war. So guess what happened to the GDI soldiers at the TCN site, and the civilians."

"I recall that incident." Mitchell answered, "They didn't have the troops to spare, and I checked later on; they didn't, and it was well outside their borders. They only promised to defend TCN sites if they were within their borders, and this is if we're not around."

"Issues with the mutants aside," Riggs said, "Let's focus on the task at hand. Are there any questions?" There were none. "Very well. Meeting closed. Dismissed."

XXX

Sarah walked into Riggs' office, finding Rex already there. Both were standing, and Riggs was at the viewport.

"Ah, come in, Captain." Riggs said, sounding somewhat… sad. She walked in, taking her helmet off and holding it in her left hand.

"Well, the General-Secretary, on behalf of Councilor Jenkins and his colleagues brought a piece of regulation to my attention." He sighed, pacing, "I want to make it clear: I checked these regulations, and at the time they were implemented and the supposed infraction, you both were well within regulation. However, the Councilor believes otherwise."

_What regulation… oh you're kidding me… _now_ they bring it up?_

"Because of your difference in rank, Councilor Jenkins believes that your marriage is technically illegal, and thus null and void, or one or both of you must leave GDI."

Rex frowned, "General, do you know how hollow that sounds?"

"Believe me, I do." Riggs answered, "Its complete bullcrap if you ask me."

Sarah realized that Riggs was sincere in his pity: She realized; he had lost his whole family to the Second and Third Tiberium Wars; he had, several times, been forced to choose his duty over his family… a decision that haunted him. His parents were killed in a Nod terrorist attack with a Catalyst missile, following the use of a Liquid Tiberium spray in their residential neighborhood in LA, during Tib War Three. During Tib War Two, his brothers had been brutally killed in front of him when he was captured, to be rescued later by then-Commander Mitchell during the Battle of Beijing, towards the end of that war. And his wife and children were killed during the Second Firestorm Crisis, at the hands of renegade Forgotten, mutant marauders driven mad by CABAL's Tiberium experiments. _He doesn't want anyone else to be forced to go through what he has,_ she realized, feeling a pity for him that had not existed before, as all she knew of him before she had taken time to really think about his past was that he was Rios' hand in the military… she never thought about him in detail, assuming him to be a manipulated… _no,_ she realized, _he is being manipulated; Rios is playing on his desire to try and protect others from what he suffered to put him in her pocket._

"So to get this straight," Rex said, frowning, "Either I or Sarah have to resign our commissions from GDI, or we have acknowledge our marriage as null, void, and illegal?"

Riggs sighed, "That's how it stands."

"What about Coric?" Sarah asked, "How would it affect him?"

"Well, he'd be officially born out of wedlock, but otherwise he'd be fine. A bastard, I believe the technical term is." Riggs noted ruefully, as if scorning the thought.

"Anyone who knows him knows it's not true."

"There isn't a third option, is there?" Rex asked.

"No, Rios made it pretty clear: You can't both be military if you have more then one rank difference between the two of you; there's four, Sarah, as a Captain, has Major, Colonel, and then Commander to go."

Sarah wondered briefly why the Taskforce's seconds in command were all captains… then she realized: This was _before_ GDI reorganized its Order of Battle; they hadn't updated it's ranks to adjust to the later situation.

"We can bring this to court, right?" Sarah asked, "Trial over Rios violating our rights, and retroactively changing a legal action to illegality _twenty years_ after the fact."

"You can appeal," Riggs said, nodding, "but I'm not sure how far it'd go. The Courts tend to favor Rios, she's pretty popular…"

"Because the public hasn't really believed she's done anything that violates a person's rights," Rex coldly responded, "General, I respect your position, but I'm not leaving the army just because a jumped-up politician with a grudge abuse anyone's rights."

Riggs looked surprised at the accusation, and hastily said, "This has nothing to do with your adopted daughter, General."

"General Riggs," Rex said, raising his voice, "Think. Is the cost of a free world going to be freedom itself? Are we going to sit down and let someone roll over another's rights because someone says that a matter legally sealed twenty years ago needs to be reopened?"

"General," Riggs sharply retorted, surprised, "I don't like this any more then you, but orders are orders."

"Then I'll see you in court, General." Rex coldly said, and turned to leave.

"General, with respect," Sarah said, hoping the diplomatic skills she picked up from her father helped here, "This matter shouldn't even need to go to court or come this far; there's a loophole."

Riggs, still angry from his burst, looked at her, listening.

"2054, at Mount Cheyenne, Nod forces assaulted the base there," Sarah swallowed as she remembered the battle, "I was one of the casualties."

Rex caught on, "So you're legally dead…"

"Which hasn't been officially changed as the paper-pushers have more important things to worry about…"

"And so it's still fully legal, as said spouse is technically…" Rex stopped, shaking his head, "OK, first, I don't think anyone is going to fall for something that extraordinary, especially since it's a paper-pushing error. Even Boyle wasn't that thick, wait, never mind..."

"He's right," Riggs said, "Mostly dead is still alive, especially if you 'just got better'."

"But do you really think this is going to get that far?" Sarah asked, surprised Rex wasn't taking it, "A judge would look at the case, a skilled speaker would point out how this retroactive charge is years late, and that at the time of the supposed crime, it was a fully legal action. A jury wouldn't even take long to decide, it's pretty obvious that there's nothing illegal in our marriage. Rex was, according to GDI's Order of Battle in 2047, a civilian, which is acceptable in GDI's regulations. Section Eight, Amendment Two, Paragraph Four."

"I wish it was that easy," Riggs said, sighing, and continued pacing, seeming to have calmed down, "Rios, as we are now in a wartime situation, has executive power in the matters of justice over the military; you'd have to appeal to the Council."

"And we know they have bigger issues." Rex said, "So it wouldn't even go through, even if a General is on the line."

"Correct."

"I'm not leaving GDI," Rex and Sarah said, unsurprisingly simultaneously.

They looked at each other, and there was a glint in Rex's eye…

"If we can't avoid it, I'll resign." Rex finally said, "I can live without it."

Riggs was surprised, "General, this really isn't…"

"You said either we annul the marriage, or one of us resigns."

"Rex," Sarah said, amazed that he was basically loading his life onto the business end of an Ion Cannon and blasting a piece of dust with it, "You don't have too…"

"I'm not letting some political half-wit take our marriage away," Rex said, steadfast, "I'll transfer to training, pass on what I know and all that. Sarah, _you_ can't live without remaining in GDI, you're _stuck in your armor because Nod used cybernetics on you, which you can't remove without dying._ I'm not letting you die over this."

Sarah realized Rex was resolute. "How much time do we have?" she asked Riggs.

"Until the end of the week."

_Two days…_ Sarah realized. "Alright. We'll have our answer for you then… this is something we need to discuss." And she had a shrewd idea of who'd find a loophole… someone who tangled with the bureaucracy regularly and won… once outside, she told Rex. He reluctantly agreed to bring who she had in mind into the matter.

XXXX

**Five Minutes Later**

_**GST Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

"So," General Joshua "_Mitch_" Mitchell said, frowning as the details of what happened were told to him, "Riggs wants you two to say 'adios' to your marriage, or one of you resigns." He snarled briefly as the thought ate at him.

"That's right," Sarah said, sighing. Mitchell had never seen her this low before… _Bloody Rios, she can't hit Ahsoka directly, so she's targeting her friends to put pressure on Ahsoka. Even going as far as to use another Council imbecile as a meat shield for blame. Why couldn't Rios of been a Noddie, then she'd be a legitimate target for my walkers, just like her parents were for a GDI grenade back in 2047…_

"Bull. Fucking. Shit." Mitchell said, "I don't give a crap if Rios has executive power, at the time of your marriage, and for _twenty years, __**ten of which you weren't even together**__, and while both of you are hardly seeing each other, _and _now_ she decides to have you two forced to chose duty or love just because she needs to feel in control? No, not on my watch. No one messes with a Steel Talon and doesn't have to answer to the Talons as a whole."

"What do you mean?"

"Rex, take this to court. I've tangled with the bureaucrats enough that I know how to make the most heartless amoral lawyer cry like a newborn baby; in public to. Bring Rios' _persecuting_ attorney on, I'll load his _persecution _and shoot it right back at his groin from a Titan, just to see him squirm."

"You mean prosecution, right?" Rex asked, a worried look crossing his face.

"Same thing in this case." Mitchell said, shaking his head. _I know why Rex is worried, he thinks this'll balloon into more then it's worth… well, we're the defenders here, we're being attacked._ "Look, you worry about the Tacitus shards, I'll deal with Rios."

"Mitchell, when you say deal…" Rex looked even more worried now.

"No Rex, I am not like Kane. Just trust me to give Rios the fight she wants… in the courtroom. I'll fight to get this to a goddamn military tribunal, not a politically charged courtroom." And that was exactly what Mitchell planned on doing.

XXXXX

**Pennsylvania Tacitus Shard Site**

**Yellow Zone**

Ahsoka walked off of the shuttle as it landed, and nodded to the three soldiers who were waiting for her.

"Captain Peirce, Sergeant Granger, Corporal Parker." Ahsoka answered, keeping it formal for now. The three saluted, and she returned it; "At ease."

Christian nodded, "The Shard is ready for recovery, ma'am."

"I'll take it off your hands then, soon as that happens, pack up and get out of the area, scanners indicate another Ion Storm may be heating up."

Christian nodded, "We expected that. Thank you, ma'am." He hesitated, "General-Secretary Rios wanted me to accompany you." He added.

Ahsoka nodded, "Alright then. Are you comfortable leaving this with your second?"

"Yes ma'am."

She looked at Coric, and nodded. They could socialize later.

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

**Author's Notes:**

**Welcome back commanders. The hiatus is going to be officially off, but expect delays in the updates. I'm thinking this is going to officially be one of the longest chapters written; about 96 pages of story text (double spaced, Times New Roman, size 12 on ****Micro ****Massivesoft Word 2007)**

**When originally thought of the Tacitus plot, I wanted it to be something like multi-flag CTF, something to give another focus on besides the TCN, which, to be fair, gets stale relatively quickly. I'm using this as a chance to relate technological advances and issues both GDI, Nod, and ECG are having in organizing their battles, as well as allowing me to start introducing new ECG units and making them a proper faction in their own right and not a reasonably laughable counter-Nod.**

**Park returned at request of a reviewer. Vega also shows up again as well. RAID units are basically Zone Troopers with a different set of armor that more resembles stuff from the **_**Tiberium**_** FPS concept art and uses GD-10 rifles (or GD-11's in the case of officers), which basically is there so they're different from GDI. Think of it as lighter Zone units used by RAID for increased mobility.**

**I'm also trying to develop some of the characters more; for some reason, they seemed a bit flat to me; maybe it's because I don't put enough into writing them out, or maybe I'm just not thinking clearly. Well, long story short, I'm going to try and elaborate characters more... maybe try and find a way to get Rex into the action for once, I really haven't done much with him, and he needs his credit damn it.**

**So yeah; I did a lot of writing for this one, what it is, pretty much, is about a few months worth off on-off writing. Gave it a touch up, added some more, etc. for the actual 'release'.**

**Hope that was worth the wait. The fic is effectively off hiatus, but may be delayed as Season 3 of **_**The Clone Wars**_** (which had a badass premier last night) continues.**

**Speaking of that; to those who haven't checked, over the summer I was redoing the old Cloned Tiberium; I've managed to re-do the first fifteen chapters, so if you want to check it out, by all means. (Maybe leave a review on the changes).**


	11. Chapter 11: Drill

_"I worry about Commander Louise James. She has the charisma to make it into GDI's elite… and the support. Worse, she hates Kane, and could potentially lead GDI soldiers to do the impossible; kill him. I do not believe Kane will die, nor will he ignore the threat, but I admit, LEGION, I am concerned. She's securing a Tacitus shard with landed in Australia now, but I worry if she can be trusted with it."_

-The Legendary Insurgent to LEGION, sharing concern on GDI's current state of affairs.

_"Lieutenant James; I found your answer to the off numbers. All our census' were only counting adults, some damn bureaucrat forgot to check kids as well. Considering it was one of _Boyle's_ regs, I'm surprised it's still around. Then again, you weren't very good at coordinating GDI operations in Australia for General McNeil during the Second Firestorm..."_

- GDI Firestorm Taskforce Lieutenant Ajay putting InOps agent Kirce James in her place.

_"They always tell me I'm supposed to be a hero, a symbol of all that GDI has, courage, steadfast determination, and the ability to take on Tiberium and Nod and not break a sweat... I can't help but feel uncomfortable about being a part of GDI's legacy; I mean, I'm not even [Redacted by GDI InOps...] for [...Steel Talon division]'s sake, I really stole the role. There's hundreds of soldiers, faceless in history because they weren't important, or told about... their stories are just as important. If it weren't for any of the 'faceless Joes', as Sarah calling them. I don't think anyone would be living in a world that's getting better... [Redacted], I don't even think Rex's analogy to the [Redacted] Army's literally faceless soldiers once the helmets were on... it's unnerving to be elevated above them all, I mean, I should of just been a footnote of a GDI commando, doing my duty, not some well-known heroine who has her powers exaggerated. If Nod did anything right, it's having a shrine in every Hand of Nod that lists out every casualty and even has the details, however brief, of their lives, all available to access as long as it's not 'undercover', all stored in a database... it's really the most that can be done realistically. GDI should start adopting that, even if we don't put it in every base, we need to acknowledge the common soldier, or we'll forget what war _really_ is. I'm far too lucky, or maybe it's just [Redacted]'s will, but I should be _**dead**_ by rights with what I've been shot with."_

- Taken from the journal of GDI Commander Ahsoka Tano, date of recovery unknown

**Chapter 11: Drill**

**January 26th, 2067**

**(Ruins of) Sydney, Australia**

**Yellow Zone**

Commander Louise James, suited up in her personalized suit of Zone Armor, which was equipped with a more advanced version of the standard rail gun and capable of punching holes in a Mammoth tank after a three shots (which was something, as normal ones took seven or more shots just to open a hole), looked at battlefield control, presented in a hologram by her EVA unit. She couldn't believe GDI was risking soldiers needed elsewhere to help Kane recover his scheme's key artifact… she decided that her best chance was to find a way to destroy it once secured, before Ahsoka arrived. Although she respected the Firestorm Taskforce's commander, both of them were Steel Talons, they were going their separate ways, if only because Ahsoka had been forced to help Kane, likely at some higher-up's order.

"EVA," she said, "What's the status on the shard?"

"**It is located at the old GDI base here." **EVA marked the location, **"MCV is en route for base deployment."**

She felt her heart swell; she recalled the location well from the W3N reports: It was where, after pretending to be allies, Nod had dropped two nuclear warheads on the base and blew most of it apart, killing God-knows how many good men and women, who had counted Nod as tentative allies in an alliance of desperate 'necessity' to fight the Scrin. _So, I have to secure the shard for the bastard who blew up good people at the very site…_ James mused, thinking of the sadistic irony, _Well, little luck, I can send Kane's plan to hell, and maybe throw him in after._

She knew that her forces could secure the area; two Rigs, six squads of twelve Zone Troopers, two squads of six Zone Enforcers, and a squad of six Zone Defenders, split into two companies. Tiger Company and its Rig were made up of four Zone Trooper squads, while the others formed Lancer Company. In addition, she had brought a squadron of Spartan Tanks to serve as meat shields if needed. They were enough to hold the line and secure the base, but James felt it left the Pacific Hub more vulnerable, but she had to bring them because it was a 'high priority assignment', and GDI did it's best to get needed resources to areas of import. _Not that it was always successful,_ she mused, _considering that we didn't deploy enough to stop Kane from activating that last damn tower in the Mediterranean._

"Move up," she ordered, "secure the shard. I want Lancer Company to go directly up, while Tiger Company spreads out and takes out any ECG patrols in the area. I'll join Lancer. Spartans tanks are to be split evenly amongst the squads."

The two Majors under her command answered with an affirmative, and they split off, and she joined Lancer Company, six Spartan Tanks joining each platoon.

Their advance was quick and easy, as there was no resistance, but when they reached the shard site, they had their first encounter: A pair of ECG's new model Scorpion Tanks were there, and they opened fire, missing the first salvo due to being caught flat footed. The Spartans, with their sufficient numbers, were more than capable of taking out the tanks, and they did so, the single barrage from the tanks and another from the infantry all that was needed to knock out the two tanks. James, however, knew that that was the easy part.

"_Ma'am_," reported Major Simmons, who led Tiger Company, "_No additional ECG forces sighted, it looks like they only sent a patrol to check the place out_."

"Understood," James responded, "Get to the site, we're going to dig in."

"_Yes ma'am_."

She jump jetted over the inner base wall, once a beautiful piece of architecture built into a hill, now nothing more than radioactive, melted slag infected with Tiberium. _And this is because of Kane_, she reminded herself, _because he led misguided souls to war for his mad schemes…_

The Tacitus shard was there, glowing like all the others. She was about to radio its position to command, then realized, _If I discover how to destroy it, Kane won't be able to complete his plan…_ She walked up to the shard and looked at it. It was exactly as it was described. She glanced around, and knew that the only soldiers here were those who knew that Kane had to fall for humanity to truly succeed.

"Simmons," she finally asked as he arrived, "What do you think?"

"To blow it up? C4. If we should; well, we got all we can get out of the Tacitus, they weren't translating it anymore and Commander Tano checked; nothing we didn't have translated already. So yeah, nuke it to deny it to Kane or Gideon. I'll get the C4."

"Let's try something more… accidental first." She said, pointing her personalized rail gun at it and firing. The shot echoed… but did not damage the shard at all. A few soldiers looked up as the blue rail gun projectile bounced off and faded away as it's kinetic force wore off and the acceleration from the gun's ionizer wore off.

"**Hold fire, Commander!"** shouted James' EVA unit in horror, **"You are shooting the primary objective!"**

"EVA, shut down to preserve your batteries."

"**Yes ma'am."** And her EVA unit shut down. James made a note to have her engineers give her EVA unit a memory wipe, just to be safe. She then paused; EVA units had extremely long lifespan, even the wrist versions; they rarely had to be shut down to 'conserve their batteries'; especially since GDI used extra-powerful batteries.

"Alright, a few C4 charges then." James ordered.

They tried everything they had, but somehow, the Tacitus shard showed no signs of damage… it was as if it was invulnerable.

"Why is it," James sighed after the fifth attempt with C4, this time enough to blow a small hole into a GST, failed, "that only Nod grunts seem to be vulnerable to a five rounds rapid?"

"I wonder that myself. Anyways, we'd best mark the use of C4 for clearing debris or something, we used a lot." Simmons said, then sighed, "Guess all we have left to do is let Commander Tano get the shard at this point."

"Agreed. I just wish I could figure out if she's with Kane, or not. Probably not, but she might follow orders from GDI high command if it goes stupid."

"We just have to hope it's against… if she's with him, we're going to need a lot more firepower."

James just nodded. She knew how dangerous the Firestorm Taskforce was, and if they were siding with Kane when reckoning came…

She'd kill them. Just like she had killed Nod soldiers one man at a time as an infantrywoman in the Third Tiberium War, and just like she had demolished entire ECG battalions as an officer.

"_Commander! I'm detecting a group of unknowns approaching from the east_!" shouted a lookout over the radio.

"What does it look like?" she answered, curious.

"_I dunno, ma'am, I'm seeing dark armor, and some hooded figure."_

She paused; then smiled, _Kane_ had come right into what would be a beautifully ironic trap. "I'll be over there, let them come closer. All units stand by to engage if necessary."

The mysterious party continued to approach; James could make them out now, they weren't clad in any armor she could recognize, however, but it looked distinctly like Zone Armor to her, with a unique, almost Spartan if the helmets were anything to go by, style.

Finally, the group paused and the hooded figure removed his hood; revealing himself to be a man, a simple man, but there was something different about him; he had a charismatic presence and there was a guile in his movements, his simple, well cared for beard was of a halfway between a dull red and a dusky brown, his close cut hair the same color. He held his hands, palms open, and said, "I am an enemy of Cain."

James paused, letting it mull through, then smiled, "If so, we have a lot to discuss."

"I suspect we do, Commander James." he answered, inclining his head politely, "You may call me... _Jacob_."

XXXXX

**January 27****th****, 2067**

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

Ahsoka frowned as she examined the shards. They had four now, Commander James had been surprisingly polite when handing it over, and Ahsoka could easily sense something had changed in her. Despite the four shards, they still had no understanding of how to fuse the Tacitus back together, even Kane was mystified, and, since it was effectively his device, that was a dangerous thing. Once again, she attempted to reach to it, to connect to each shard and try to bring them together, but all she got was an acknowledgment of her presence and nothing more.

"Any luck?" Mitchell asked from the door.

"No." Ahsoka answered, breaking the trance she had been trying to use, "It's like it's been completely broken. Beyond repair. I could probably get a fragment to reveal some information, but there's no telling if it's complete or not."

"We probably just need all the shards," Mitchell answered with a shrug. "Anyways, Rios is getting impatient. Do you think you could, ya'know…"

"Look for them?" Ahsoka answered, referring to trying to meditate on the matter in hopes of getting a vision or three.

"Yeah."

"I've tried; all I seem to get is that there are shards, and there's a sense of urgency and the need to get them back, and nothing else."

"Worth a shot." Mitchell said, sighing, "just once, I'd like to have an objective that's clear cut on what we need to do, ground and pound 'em, and go home satisfied with a good day's work."

"If it's that easy, it probably isn't worth it." Ahsoka responded, shaking her head, "Not that I'd mind some clear-cut like that."

XXXXX

**GDI Base**

**Maine state, USA**

**Blue Zone**

Coric, finishing with several rounds of practice, looked up as Warren entered the training range, carrying, to Coric's surprise, a Zone Enforcer's Gatling gun.

"Switching specialization?" Coric asked, raising an eyebrow under his helmet, retracting the faceplate into the suit.

"Yes." Warren answered, "I figured I'd add some rapid-fire ability."

"You aren't your uncle, you know."

"I know, but hey, I can try."

"Maybe when you're a commando, heh. So, why the Enforcers?"

"Always can use some more Dakka, eh?"

"Orc." Coric snorted, grinning.

"I resent the implication."

"Well, make sure the paperwork gets filled out; eh?"

Warren shook his head, "Already done; I just need to pass a proficiency test with miss Gatling here."

"Oh, good. Alright, I'll be back later; I need to talk with Blade about the transfer."

Warren nodded, then walked to the range, and, once the instructor gave the signal, flipped the safety off, and with surprising accuracy, nailed a rapid succession of targets. Coric shook his head, smiling as he left. They were about to be transferred to a GST, to be on-call for operations, so it was their last day on the ground. Coric hadn't been to space before; his unit was never assigned to a GST for drop pod duty… _First time for everything._ he thought, hoping he didn't puke on the first time... that would be... _unpleasant_.

XXXX

**February 1****st****, 2067**

**Northern China**

**Near the Great Wall (or what's left of it…)**

**Red Zone**

"_Tengu One to Firestorm Lead, over_."

"Firestorm Lead, copy."

"_There's nothing to be found on scanner in our sector; heading to next reconnaissance point and searching for targets of opportunity_."

"Understood. We'll continue with the ground sweep."

"_Copy that Commander, switching to Jet mode and heading out_."

"Understood. Firestorm Lead out."

The four Tengu launched into the air from their landing zone on the hillside above and flew ahead, while Ahsoka looked at the small team available; this was a small squad of the Taskforce's best soldiers, and Captain McCarthy was accompanying them with his elite team of Zone Rangers. They were well suited for the operation.

"_InOps just confirmed that ECG found a shard, here, in Northern China. This area is an important ECG training center with multiple barracks complexes. More to the point, this is where they turn their believers and fanatics into fearless soldiers, so infantry are going to be here in droves, and this is where most ECG infantry we face train, again, according to InOps, so who knows for sure."_ Ahsoka had explained before they left for the to-be battlefield, _"We need to use hit-and-run to literally bleed the convoys of trained soldiers and supplies dry before we head to the site. A squad of Tengu will be on hand to run fly-by, but they'll be operating independently of our strike team with the goal of Aggressive Reconnaissance. Once we've bled the base out of men, General Nagama will send a strike force down from orbit and we take out the base, and secure the shard."_

It sounded easy then, but they were two days into the operation, and they still weren't ready to attack the supply-demanding ECG base, even though they had knocked out possibly over a thousand soldiers and the convoys they were on. Between the thick mountains, which had an effect of leaving the base as a pair of gate outposts protecting a large number of Hand of Gideon (the ECG equivalent to Kane's Hand of Nod) barracks complexes with turret and SAM defense across a large area, with a main command center containing an ECG Ops Center, ConYard, the needed power plants, a Tiberium Refinery, and one additional Hand of Gideon.

Long story short, their commando efforts were going to take time to take effect a killer effect, or they'd have to hope the local commander was an idiot. They were expecting the former, unfortunately. Worse, an Ion Cannon strike would be futile, as ECG had managed to acquire Nod's Ion Disruption technology, nullifying the recently reactivated Ion Cannon network. Many ECG bases had adopted such, so using the Ion Cannon was less useful offensively, and thus forced GDI to fight the old fashioned way. _Then again,_ Ahsoka thought, _we really can't just Ion Strike the base considering the shard is held just behind it's ConYard; and after Sarajevo, we're taking it safe._

The main difference between the ECG hands and the Nod ones was that the Hand of Gideon was much like it's First Tiberium War era version, except with two major differences: Much lower, and much more of it was underground; the only above-ground parts were the entry room, the top floor of the communications and observation room, and a helipad behind the on top hand itself, but otherwise, the whole structure was an underground facility. Connected to that, the ramp was much lower and shorter, but there was still easily a quarter of a floor raise for the ground floor. Of course, all the underground digging it made construction more difficult, but it also meant they'd be safe from the frequent Ion Storms... and GDI orbital and aerial attacks.

They were about to break into one such Hand of Gideon, and Ahsoka ducked back under cover as they observed their target, one relatively close to the main base.

"What are we looking at and what's the plan?" McCarthy asked, holding his carbine and ready to rush in, and his sniper rifle was on a back-mounted harness, ready for quick assembly if needed.

"Two turrets covering the entrance; same lookalikes to the really old ones, just with the new mods. I can dodge those, I'll rush up and C4 them, then we sprint into the Hand and secure the ground floor before they communicate the attack."

The six rangers nodded, readying their rail carbines for the attack. The Zone Ranger corps was originally to be a restoration of the sniper corps, but circumstances had changed; the Taskforce was quickly adapting the concept to its forces, some of the Taskforce's rangers and some former SpecOps soldiers were (re)trained as Special Forces suited for indoor combat, as normal Zone Infantry were far too large for the tight necessity of indoor combat. Adding a bandoleer of (a lesser amount) of C4 and grenades, they truly were Special Forces infantry, capable of functioning behind the lines for over a week, and if necessary, a month. Although bulkier then most of GDI's security personnel, the fact they were equipped with scaled-down Zone Armor, that meant that they could fit in places normal Zone Infantry couldn't. It was smaller than even Sarah's tightened version of Zone Armor, and was impractical to mass-produce; it traded some protection, mostly against high powered projectiles, but it still retained its anti-Tiberium properties, in exchange for less bulk. With their roles, it was a fair trade off as the snipers the suits were originally designed for were highly mobile anyways.

Ahsoka leapt up, sprinting forward and moving side-to-side, avoiding as much detection as she could. As she entered the three-fourths range of the closer turret, its automatic systems noticed her and turned to fire. She saw it coming and leapt to the side, the Tiberium laced shell exploding with a green cloudburst where she was a mere second ago. She repeated the maneuver twice more, and slapped a C4 charge on the turret, then leapt over it, landing on the other turret, and repeated. She then leapt towards the Hand's door, and detonated the C4 in mid air, the turrets exploding behind her as she landed. Igniting her lightsaber, she used the Force to blast the door open, and rushed in, cutting down the two ECG soldiers guarding the communications room and the soldier manning it's console, stopping an alarm from getting out. The Rangers followed her in and they called the elevator up. Ahsoka walked into it, and nodded. Alone, she descended down, and as the door opened, she entered the mess hall. The ECG soldiers; militants with proper armaments and by the looks of the helmets on the tables and armor worn; they were also armored well by Nod standards. Regardless, they all paused, and looked at her, stunned for a key moment, and Ahsoka was already rushing forward and cutting through them with her lightsaber as the first shots fired. The elevator shut behind her and went up…

Although most of the blood was cauterized by the lightsaber swipes, some of the cuts still sprayed it. As the Rangers, arriving with the elevator's second trip, swarmed the mess hall, guns blazing, even more blood flew, for although accelerated much like a blaster, the Tiberium-core clips used didn't cauterize injuries as much. Ahsoka wiped some of the blood off of her face as the last ECG soldier dropped dead half-way across the mess hall, a bullet ripping through his neck and out his shoulder blade.

"Think we got most of them," said McCarthy, before a burst of flame forced him to duck. Ahsoka whirled around, and was surprised to see the _cook_ wielding a _flamethrower_ (an old one of the First Tiberium War). McCarthy shot at the cook's chest, causing him to stagger back and drop dead as the rail carbine rounds ripped holes into his torso, leaving him a bloodied mess.

"I don't get it; they had civilian status, but once they brought the flamethrower out and tried to cook us, they're hostile and legit targets." McCarthy commented with a sigh as he saw the smoke rise from what was left of the dead cook's chest.

"I know," Ahsoka answered as she looked over the cook's smoking carcass, frowning.

"Must be the poultry," said another Ranger, looking over the cafeteria's counter, which had a large, prepared chicken and what looked to Ahsoka like roasted Visceroid…

The Rangers went for the bedchambers and officer quarters, and through that, to the building's Master Control Terminal, while Ahsoka went to the training rooms. As she reached it, she heard an ECG officer;

"_Now give me twenty more push-ups, and then report to the armory for weapon training_."

Ahsoka peeked through the door's small window, and saw tired yet enthusiastic yet tired young men and women in training, doing pushups or using the weight room while ECG propaganda was blasted at them from loudspeakers and on large view screens. Ahsoka was surprised how similar it was to the Nod propaganda played, except replace Kane with Gideon, and modified to suit their trivial differences in ideology.

The workout done, the trainees, one by one, walked into the next-door armory as the officer watched, satisfied. Ahsoka opened the door; lightsaber switched off, and crept up on him…

"Huh?" shouted the officer as he heard Ahsoka, whirling around and bringing a personal chain gun, a modified Zone Enforcer one, to bear, but it was too late: Ahsoka already ignited her lightsaber, right through his chest. Shutting down the lightsaber to pull it out of the now-deceased officer, she let him slump to the ground with a dull thud. Immediately after the thud, she heard a commotion on the other side of the closed doors, looking through a window to the armory. The trainees were appalled and shouting curses, grabbing their guns and moving to rush her. Ahsoka didn't even need to use her lightsaber once she opened the door. She blasted all of them back with the Force, slamming them into the walls so hard that the wall shook under the barrage of ten trainees. The officer distributing the guns, on the other hand, came up with a rocket launcher…

As he fired, Ahsoka used another Force push, causing the rocket to explode within the launcher and set off the explosive power packs, cooking them all off in a chain reaction, the explosions spreading quickly and blowing the trainees apart, the entire armory consumed in hellish flames that eagerly looked for life to overwhelm. Ahsoka, who was in the next room, was spared from the fiery death. She heard thuds, but no screams.

Ahsoka took a moment to look at the damage. _What a waste,_ Ahsoka remarked, feeling pity for the dead trainees, some of them reduced to mere limbs by the explosions and whatever was left was burning slowly. The putrid scent of the burning flesh reached her nostrils, causing her to pinch it for a moment. She heard rapid footsteps whirled around, thinking she heard another squad of ECG soldiers coming in; only to see McCarthy and his Rangers, with only pocket dents on their armor, mere scratches.

"MCT disabled," McCarthy explained, glancing at Ahsoka's lit lightsaber which was pointing at them, but not commenting, "No injuries and a whole lotta ECG in their bunks. They weren't in the mood to surrender. One tried to pistol whip Coddington..."

"She received a broken heart." Coddington grimly added, the butt of his rail carbine seeming to catch his attention.

Ahsoka nodded grimly, "Come on, let's the C4 and get outta here before anyone notices something's going on."

Five minutes later, they were a good distance away and detonated the C4, blowing the facility up from inside. While the structure's superstructure itself was still somewhat intact, it would take awhile for Gideon to rebuild it to full functionality. The flames burst out of the first floor's windows, consuming themselves as they flew out and the tight corridors of the Hand amplifying the explosives, which likely collapsed more than a few hallways.

"So," McCarthy asked as the display of pyrotechnics ended, "Anything we should know about?" Ahsoka knew he was clearly referring to her Force senses, even if he didn't know what they were exactly.

"Nothing," Ahsoka answered, "except that the shard's still there."

McCarthy nodded, "Understood."

XXXXX

**February 2****nd****, 2067**

**GST **_**Enoch**_

**Earth Orbit**

General Nagama sighed as he looked at the tactical screen, showing the planet. Nothing was happening. Normally, he would be glad, but after ECG's brazen assault on Hammerfest and the subsequent assaults on positions known to have any of the shards, one expected him to be launching more strikes, on TCN nodes especially to keep GDI off balance. But his followers had left the TCN alone for the last week. It unnerved him how it all came to a sudden stop after an audacious assault that somehow worked, at first. _It's as if he's giving us a chance to recover, which makes no sense what so ever; he's not Kane, who makes plans even master strategists have been unable to determine, even if he's shown much more competence recently._

"Sergeant Granger, Air Captain Blade." He said, turning and leaving his thoughts of the war aside. "Welcome aboard the GST_ Enoch_."

"Thank you, sir." Coric answered, "My soldiers are settling in well."

"My pilots are settling in as well;" Blade answered, "They're a bit worried about room to land though, due to our drop pods' limitations. They're also concerned about the viability, especially due to the requirement of launching once the pods are gone, leaving us vulnerable for a key time as the pods lift off again and we gain altitude."

"I understand, it does add a considerable degree of difficulty to your already dangerous tasks. Air Captain," he paused, musing, "It is a mouthful, is it not, gentlemen?"

Coric and Blade glanced at each other, and he took in the difference, yet similarity between the two. Coric was wearing casual dress; which, for infantry, meant old and hardly used suits of Third Tiberium War era armor, so at the very least if caught with their pants down they could defend themselves. Unlike Coric however, while Blade was wearing his flight suit, his cowboy hat held under his arm, not unlike a helmet, which General Nagama suspected Blade had in his locker… but he wore the hat for more casual occasions and over his helmet (and said hat was large enough to accommodate)

"It was a joke, gentlemen." He said, musing how his no-nonsense attitude, a trait from his following of Japan's ancient warrior traditions, was sometimes taken far too literally. "I was musing on how the titles differing the Air Corps are far too long with 'air' added in front of each rank. I find it an unnecessary difference, personally."

"Yes… sir." Blade said, slightly uncertain. The air corps wasn't under any proper general, but the differing rank designations was due to them being separate services for a long time.

"Regardless, I want you two to get acquainted with Captain Tenzai, he'll be your commanding officer for your duration aboard the _Enoch,_ and beyond most likely_._ Ah, there he is now."

A Japanese man with his black hair worn long walked up after glancing at a monitor, over the shoulder of a young EVA operator. Captain Tenzai was donning a regulation uniform dyed black. Officers were gradually entitled a more freedom in the coloring and later makeup of their casual uniforms, and Kenji chose to wear it black with a yellow trim, with the GDI insignia, an eagle striking down upon a target, on the left side of his chest. However, his primary on-duty uniform, especially his combat armor, would be fully strict to regulation.

"Captain Tenzai is one of our newer officers," General Nagama explained, "I believe you will get along with him quite well."

"Thank you, sir." Kenji answered.

XXX

Coric could hear the arrogance coming out of Kenji's voice. "A pleasure to work with you, Captain Tenzai." He said diplomatically. _Tenzai… why does the name sound familiar?_ Coric pondered briefly, but decided he could look it up later.

"He's a top graduate from East Point, and also majored in several advanced sciences before joining GDI." General Nagama explained further, "His leadership was noted during his basic training, and his knowledge of the latest technology is unmatched by any of the same rank, and he rose from a Sergeant leading a Hunter strike team to a Captain for his efficiency and improvising on the fly as the situation changes." He hesitated, then added, "Also, we needed to replace officers; he was one of the best candidates."

_Ouch,_ Coric thought, wincing internally, recalling ECG's growth as a proper threat was costing GDI more and more as time went on, some even said it'd be an exponential growth, but he doubted that.

"Permission to speak freely?" Blade asked.

Nagama looked at Kenji, who nodded, "Certainly, Captain Blade."

"If I may ask; why aren't you a member of the Steel Talons? I would assume they'd want you to join them if you're a technologically versed soldier and a skilled leader."

Kenji just smiled; a suave smile that unnerved Coric somehow, "One of General Mitchell's officers did approach me with the offer, but I had to turn it down. I didn't think I would fit in."

_Funny,_ Coric mused as he considered the average Steel Talon; aggressive, (borderline) arrogant, technologically versed and combat savvy, _Kenji looks like he'd fit right in once he proved himself a hot handle for a Titan or Wolverine…_ He reminded himself to keep an open mind; although the first impressions were rarely great, he had to remember that becoming a Captain early was no mean feat. Either he had friends in high places, or he really earned it. Coric hoped for the later.

"I think that I should warn you," Kenji added as an afterthought, "I was promoted just yesterday, due to a need of officers, so please bear in mind I may be unused to having this large a number of good people to take care of."

"Always takes time to adjust, sir." Coric answered, mildly surprised.

"Very well. Dismissed, Sergeant, Air Captain."

XXX

**ECG Headquarters**

**Giraud-Mobius Tiberium Crater**

**Himalaya Mountains**

Gideon nodded as the new information was displayed on his desktop EVA unit. It was certainly impressive, and now offered ECG technology with which to deny GDI's greatest battlefield asset.

"Sir," said a science minister in front of him, "We have what we need information wise from the shard; we can initiate Project Blackout immediately."

"Good. Begin at once." Gideon ordered, "We need to remove the commando, either by tricking Rios into calling her time done… or by killing her ourselves. How goes the new training?"

"It's going well, in general. Our training centers are filling with new recruits. The new _Warrior_-class and line of armor is being distributed as we speak to the infantry and we are continuing to augment those who volunteer with cybernetics. The manufacture of _Spear_-class laser rifles also proceeds apace and will become standard issue soon enough."

"You have doubts, don't you?" Gideon said as he looked at the science minister.

"I am an old Deacon of the Black Hand; I feel that the effective disbanding of it within our forces is a mistake. But those are my personal feelings."

"Fair enough," Gideon said, "I respect your opinion, Deacon, and you've helped the cause greatly, and offered valuable advice. The Black Hand is not disbanded, but suspended, if you will. It is too difficult for us to engage GDI by splitting our forces into designations like 'Marked of Kane' or 'Black Hand', by mixing the arsenals and standardizing across the faith, it is easier to ensure we can supply our soldiers and that our commanders can maintain all faithful that they lead. My intent is to, once the reformation is complete, pick the best to be part of a new Black Hand; our best soldiers, our best officers, all our best, so that when we know we need the most powerful in an area, we can deploy it. The Black Hand will accept only the best, and when GDI mercenaries or heretic warriors see them, they will truly understand that they face veteran soldiers, battle-hardened warriors who have fought time and again and came out alive and well despite being disadvantaged against the heretics."

"Yes, Gideon… the Black Hand's reputation had faded somewhat as attrition wore it's disciples down during the Third Tiberium War… I'd be glad to see it restored to a true elite fighting force."

"You do not object to including 'soulless machines' into the Black Hand when reformed?" Gideon asked, somewhat surprised, as he expected that to be an area of contention that he would have to push for amongst Black Hand veterans, as they had traditionally hated cyborgs ever since the First Firestorm Crisis and CABAL's rebellion.

"The cybernetic warriors of Nod," the Deacon said, referring to ECG's cyborgs, "are alive and conscious; their bodies are simply improved, armored. That is the difference, Gideon; Kane destroys their thought processes and independence, even reanimating the dead in a pale imitation, while you seek those who willingly undergo the process and let them keep their minds, in true tests of faith. Living augmented with metal, that is what our cybernetic warriors are. Kane's are more like undead than true warriors."

_Of course, we do modify their nerves so they're less pain receptive, but that's only to keep them from screaming non-stop… maybe that's why Kane and his pet LEGION chose to simply erase their independence._

XXX

**7:00 AM Local time; February 3****rd****, 2067**

**Northern China**

**Remains of the Great Wall**

**Red Zone**

Captain Alex McCarthy, safe within their modified Harrier Gunship, equipped to expand somewhat into a small shelter, took another bite out of his ration bar. They'd hit almost all of the Hands of Gideon, yet the core base was still operating, though training was going down and many ECG recruits removed from the picture. With most of its infantry support gone, the actual attack would be far easier, even with the periodic Ion Storms making it difficult to have standard air support; they were limited to the Mecha Tengu switching to ground for the storms until they secured the base. He looked over towards the cockpit; Ahsoka was consulting the Harrier's radar and the Spy Satellite images of the base while it was clear. He shook his head, _She's too worried about things; if she doesn't lighten up some more, she's going to be a walking corpse._ He kept his opinions to himself, generally, especially about his superior officers, but he couldn't deny he was worried about her. It was hard _not_ to admire her dedication to the job, but it was equally hard to not worry about if she was prepared for life outside the military, or even just pushing herself too hard. He saw Ahsoka pulling a headphone to whatever she had for an ear under the head-tail things, listening to the radio, most likely.

_Wait,_ McCarthy reminded himself, _besides the fact Rios pretty much has her set for execution the moment Ahsoka's no longer needed against the Scrin, she wouldn't be able to blend into civilian life; she's too visible…_ He paused, trying to put himself in the position where civilian life amongst those he defended would be impossible because of being a mutant, as sadly, the stigma against them, even the Forgotten who had aided GDI during times of crisis, continued in many GDI defended territories. He simply couldn't; he was too used to being greeted warmly within Blue Zones, and since he was a Commando (and the media had a 'funny habit' of tracking the exploits of commandos when possible), he was basically a famous face by default, like it or not. He was just glad that, unlike some commandos like Fullerton, he didn't have a crowd of rabid fan-girls… Yet.

"Suit up," Ahsoka said, walking into the main compartment, "General Nagama just sent word; we're hitting the base. First objective is going to be to clear the drop zone, then take out the base's Obelisk."

McCarthy nodded; fortunately, this Obelisk was too close to a tunnel, so if Ahsoka distracted the Obelisk (and she was good enough avoid getting fried, hopefully), they'd be able to speed to it, even jump jet onto its sides, and lay C4 charges. Of course, Obelisks, especially those of the Third Tiberium War and earlier were much less dangerous to most GDI soldiers, as new armor composites had granted them protection… it was still dangerous, but it was no longer one-hit-instant-death to all GDI soldiers/vehicles short of Mammoth Tanks. The trick, of course, was to get into the tunnel and shoot through ECG's patrols; they had it well guarded, as InOps said it was for sallying forth and flanking enemy attacks rather than evacuations. He trusted InOps on this one, but still, he was hesitant about assuming that was all it was for. He looked at the base's satellite image on his wrist EVA unit, surprised to see it had a major lack of Tiberium in the base, almost all of it was outside… _Of course, ECG must keep it to test its members in special caverns or something equally stupid…_

XXXX

**GST **_**Enoch**_

**Earth Orbit**

"We're heading out, sir?" asked Bert as Coric began briefing his team.

"Yes." Coric answered, "We're being dropped into China to secure an ECG base, another shard." he let the words sink in, then continued, "Commander Tano is proceeding to clear out drop zone and taking out the base's Obelisk. Once both objectives are completed, we'll be launched down to provide infantry support. Captain Tenzai is sending a few Sheppard Tanks to support us, but details are still being worked out."

"Sir, with respect," said Vikki; "This is going to be tight. Why only a platoon when this needs battalion?"

"We're the first wave; once the base is broken further, he'll drop in the 222nd to ensure mission success, but if they have to drop early, they _will_. Including an MCV if necessary, according to the Captain. Though with the commander on site already, it's unlikely we'll be down there too long."

"What about SAM defenses?" asked Warren, "We seem to have to knock those out every mission involving a Nod or ECG base."

"We'll be knocking those out as well, but it's the Obelisk that we should have the most worry about; it's supposed to be neutralized by the time we get there, but I want to be ready just in case. We don't have to worry about SAMs on the way in, since we'll be going in via Drop Pods, but we'll need to make sure all of them are gone when it comes time to finish the mission, and the sooner they're gone, the sooner Hound Squadron can get in to help us."

Blade coughed, then added, "Not that Hound Squadron can support you in this fight; the ion storms in the area are making it difficult, we'll need a secure landing zone ready for if a storm happens."

XXXX

**Three Hours Later**

**ECG Base**

**Northern China**

**Red Zone**

Ahsoka nodded as the rangers finishing reloading their weapons. They had finished their blitzkrieg through the tunnels and had now reached their first objective; the ECG Obelisk of Light. They were covered from it thanks to the tunnel, but if they didn't remove it quickly, they'd be torn apart. McCarthy nodded, and, hoping that this worked, Ahsoka inhaled deeply, letting the Force flow through her. She knew that this unorthodox method of knocking out an Obelisk was chancy, but it was their only option to knock it out quickly enough.

She suddenly rushed out, and caught the Obelisk's attention. She leapt to the left, a glimpse of where the Obelisk would hit flashing before her as the Force showed her, she held her lightsaber, ignited, as if parrying a blaster bolt...

The beam from the Obelisk hit exactly where she saw it would, and that was where her lightsaber was. The beam was deflected back instantly and obliterated the top of the Obelisk, causing the focusing crystal atop to explode, electric power shooting down through it and causing secondary and tertiary explosions within the tall black structure. The explosions ripped through, shards the size of soldiers falling, crushing an ECG technician as he ran for his life. She heard surprised shouts of awe from the Rangers, and gave a slight smile as she looked at the ECG patrol without helmets ahead dropping their jaws, the looks on their faces too priceless to describe. _Not that I'm doing that trick every time,_ Ahsoka noted to herself, _that was a lot more the Force helping me than skill. Stang, left me wide open to getting shot…_

"Move out!" Ahsoka ordered, deflecting an ECG laser rifle round and sending it back into the ECG infantryman who fired, catching him in the chest and burning it, causing him to stagger and fall, wounded. McCarthy and his squad of rangers sprinted, leaping over the debris and dodging the still falling Obelisk shards sized like grenades and rolling into cover behind the large pieces of debris that had landed perfectly for them to use. Ahsoka parried several more rounds back into the ECG soldiers who had recovered from their shock. There was something creepy about how the ECG units were armed, their rounds coming towards her in an all-too familiar fashion, triggering memories from before the Chronosphere. _ECG's using blasters!_ Ahsoka realized, and the fact that ECG had just made a tech breakthrough GDI hadn't technically made yet, even if their accelerated bullets were similar to blasters (and just as easy to deflect) was an ill omen to be sure and shocked her, a blaster bolt hitting her right shoulder guard and knocking her straight back to reality, and she used the Force to lift the soldier who shot her and threw him into the air, then let him fly and fall to his death.

Several ECG soldiers hunkered down in a bunker, protected wholly from the GDI attack and still blocking the landing zone; one ECG soldier manned what looked to Ahsoka like some sort of semi-mobile machine gun on top. It began to spit out rapid-fire blaster rounds, missing as it overshot them. Ahsoka ducked behind the Obelisk's wreckage, which was little more than a bunch of rubble surrounding the remains of the Obelisk's base, which stood at only eight or so feet.. McCarthy pulled a grenade from his belt and threw it over.

XXX

Brother Aaron Smith, once of the North Carolina Yellow Zone (before it became Red in 2053), glanced down as a silver cylinder with red accentuations landed on his bunker, next to his machine gun…

"Oh _crap!_" He picked it up and threw it back, only to see the the GDI commando, whom he recognized from news broadcasts as Ahsoka Tano, stop it in mid air and push it back telekinetically… and it landed inside the bunker.

"Break cover, quick!" he ordered.

The squad within leapt out of their cover and rushed to another set of cover, large rocks and rubble from the Obelisk; meanwhile he sprayed more rounds to the GDI soldiers… he felt the boom from below, but his part of the bunker held. _Praise Tiberium for that…_ He kept firing, keeping the steady stream of blaster fire flowing and keeping the GDI heretics pinned down.

"**Error: Overheated. Please allow to cool." **Read the machine gun's readout.

"Oh for fucks…" and suddenly, it wasn't his problem anymore.

XXX

"Headshot!" McCarthy said confidently in an almost sing-song voice as he ducked back down; Ahsoka spotted half the machine gunner's head exploding as the sniper round punched through. _Least it's instant death… I hope._ The mostly headless body stood for a second, morbidly comic, then collapsed. McCarthy quickly disassembled his sniper rifle, put it back onto his back harness, and picked up his carbine, rising and firing at the hunkered down ECG soldiers. Ahsoka leapt out of cover, lightsaber ignited, and then leapt over the firing lines, and came down atop of an ECG infantrywoman, who shouted as she was pinned to the ground by Ahsoka's landing. Attempting to grab her rifle, Ahsoka simply plunged the lightsaber into the ECG soldier's chest and cut through her arm, raising the lightsaber to engage the next ECG soldier.

She deflected another couple rounds with her lightsaber as the ECG soldiers tried to recover, but the damage was done. McCarthy and his squad leapt over their cover and stormed the ECG soldiers' positions, getting in their faces and (literally) disarmed the ECG soldiers and left them for and dead. "No one hurt yet," McCarthy said, "Shall we?"

Ahsoka nodded, and they pushed forward and were at the first drop zone. ECG soldiers still within the main base's Hand of Gideon and other buildings hadn't come out yet; now was the best time.

"General Nagama, drop zone one is secure, repeat, drop zone one is secure; send in the Zonies."

"**Reinforcements; en route."**

"Hang on, ECG soldiers rushing forward!" McCarthy shouted as he and his squad wordlessly (after the warning) ducked in cover, poking out and spraying several rounds to the ECG soldiers rushing forward, causing the lead one to collapse. The Rangers didn't need cues; they rose and fired as they had a moment to do so, independently waging the war, yet fighting as a team.

_10…_ Ahsoka thought as she parried the bolts back to the ECG soldiers, _9… 8… 7… 6…_

McCarthy shot two more of the dozen soldiers; nine left… one collapsed with a bullet through his lungs, while the second had three bullets enter him; one in each side of his ribs, and another in the throat.

_5… 4…_

Overhead, a loud pop was heard, and Ahsoka saw an ECG soldier take a round through her leg, causing her to collapse, screaming in pain, a second, third, and fourth round blasting three of her right hand's fingers off and a fifth blowing a hole in her palm.

_3… 2… 1…_

Suddenly, a large beige object hit the earth at supersonic speeds, literally obliterating the ECG soldiers underneath it and kicking up enough wind to momentarily blind Ahsoka. A panel below retracted and the drop pod lifted back off, and now, standing atop the crushed remains of a dozen ECG soldiers that now resembled black, bloody pancakes, was Coric and three squads of Zone Troopers, mixed with Enforcers and Defenders. It was the whole 501st platoon, as they hadn't replaced the losses from the Pennsylvania skirmish.

"_Five-oh-First infantry, reporting for duty, Commander_!" Coric reported as his forces opened fire on the Hand of Gideon, where ECG infantry were hunkering down and fortifying like a bunker. The sudden onslaught caught a dozen ECG soldiers out of cover and blasted them into the walls or off of the roof. Ahsoka could feel the nostalgia of the original 501st rising up within; the faces of all the dead (and otherwise likely now dead of accelerated growth) Clone Troopers belonging to it flashing before her like a distant memory from a time long ago.

"Good to see you too." She answered before the memories took a hold, "Granger, we're going to take out the Hand, I need you to knock the SAM sites so our Tengu can come in safely, we need their chain-guns in here."

"_Copy that ma'am. You heard her boys, let's move_!"

Ahsoka moved towards the Hand, parrying blaster rounds back at ECG soldiers as the Rangers blitzed the position, storming into their cover, hitting the soldiers with rifle butts or simply shooting them, and taking their cover over as they pushed.

XXXX

Coric ducked behind cover as a Scorpion tank rolled up and fired over their heads; "Webber, pop that tank, now!"

"Yes sir!" answered his squad's second Zone Defender; who launched her rockets over, and hit the Scorpion tank in the sweet spot between the tank's gun and the tank chassis; the Scorpion Tank buckled backwards in surprise; Coric and the other Zone Troopers rose out of cover and fired, their rail gun rounds blasting the Scorpion tank to scrap metal after repeated hits.

He spotted the first SAM site; a new design, based on using the heavy concrete base of older turrets and a SAM launcher atop; Coric aimed at the launched and pulled the trigger; his rail gun's round went straight to the SAM and hit the side, causing it to spin, but it recovered; it's armor was cracked by not destroyed. A volley from the other Zone Troopers finished the job.

"**SAM site destroyed."** EVA dully registered.

He spotted Warren to his left, unleashing Gatling-hell on a squad of ECG infantry. _OK, will Gideon make up his mind on what he's using for an arsenal?_ Coric thought, irritated at the constant mixing up of Marked of Kane type, Black Hand type, and new common grunt types. He blasted a rocket-wielding infantryman's head off, and half of his torso, with another shot, spraying the ECG soldier across the field onto his horrified comrades, who continued to fight, pocket marking the 501st's armor with small scorch marks as their blaster rifles scored some hits.

Advancing to the next SAM turret, they took it out too as it was left unguarded by the attack. Coric heard jet engines, and glanced up; a squadron of four fighters was in the air, and did a flyby, destroying an ECG Carryall flying in with a tank clamped to it and causing it to fall into a power plant flaming, then suddenly dropped to the ground atop of an infantry squad lead by a Confessor, crushing the squad, then they ripped apart another wave of infantry; a team of eighteen infantrymen, in less than a _second_.

"_Ha! That's the Tengu_!" shouted one of the Tengu pilots, "_Let's go have some _fun!"

Warren gave Coric a brief look.

"Yeah, they creep me out too." Coric answered, "EVA, next target?"

"**ECG is attempting to communicate for reinforcements; take out the ECG operations center to prevent this and secure the rest of our reinforcements and disable the base's Ion Cannon Disruption."**

Coric nodded, "Men, we're pushing into the Ops center; Parker, take your squad and strike the right side, I'll take the left, we push through those shipping crates and fight through. Once we're there, you guard the center and keep additional units from getting inside and secure the second drop zone, my team will push into the Ops center and take out it's communications, then assist."

He got a chorus of affirmatives, and they moved out. Jump jetting over a large wall, they entered the ECG storage area and started pushing through, finding no hostiles as they made their way to the other side.

Jump jetting over and back into the battle, Coric crushed an ECG technician under his suit as he landed; the crunch was sickening to him, but he pushed on, blasting the door open with his rail gun and pushing inside, several other Troopers beside and, once inside, behind him.

"Damn near no room sir," said the Trooper behind him as their bulky armor proved to be a bit too bulky for interior combat, before a shot inside was fired inside by anyone.

"You guys go out and help Corporal Parker; I'll handle these bozos."

"Got it. Be careful, sir." The Troopers pulled out to help Warren.

_Not a commando, but he's right, too tight quarters… least it's a relatively simple complex, probably just down the stairs is the mainframe, few explosives and a lot of shots, should do the trick._

He brought his rail gun to bear on an ECG soldier rushing up the stairs to meet him, the rail gun's round not only passing through the soldier (and obliterating his torso), but also into the wall behind him, splattering the stairway. Coric stepped down the stairs carefully to avoid slipping on the black burnt blood and gore, rail gun ready, and entered a room large enough he could fight in; somewhat. He grunted softly as he banged his head on the low ceiling when he entered.

He heard something in Chinese shouted by an ECG technician (which EVA translated as "_Intruder, help_!" before she grabbed a handgun; Coric noted her location, to his left, then turned, bringing his rail gun, and hit her in the chest with the gun's butt-end, knocking the technician down and probably breaking her shoulder, if not more, from the sheer kinetic force.

"Hey, I'm not going to shoot until you pull out handguns or try to attack," Coric said as the other technicians looked at each other, "Now, put your hands in the air and surrender, I won't shoot... I'm just going to disable the building... do you understand me?"

Suddenly he felt a number of punches and staggered back, pulling the trigger instinctively and a rail gun round blasted one of the technicians (holding a pistol in a firing pose) apart. Coric knew what happened; the technicians simultaneously drew, he felt a few more rounds impacting his suit, but it wasn't damaged worryingly… yet. The archaic, likely Second Tiberium War vintage pistols the ECG techies had barely scratched his armor. He sprinted forward, letting the sheer mass of his suit carry him through the huddled pistol-wielding technicians and be barreled through them and into the main console, he felt himself trip and roll, he pushed himself up and aimed, expecting an ECG soldier to show up from a side room; and one did. He pulled the trigger and blew his chest out, and then another ECG soldier tried the same, this one getting a shot off. The blaster bolt hit Coric's arm, and he grunted. _Pierced the suit, but not enough to compromise it;_ Coric noted as he called up the diagnostic. He glanced around; no more threats.

Bashing every console and taking several shots into the large screen, he looked around satisfied as he heard explosions up top.

"**Enemy Operations Center disabled."** EVA registered, and Coric nodded; glancing around. A technician came out; Coric aimed his rail gun at the technician, who then shouted;

"I surrender, I surrender!" he shouted in reasonably mispronounced English, his hands in the air, open-palmed, his voice with genuine fear. Coric gave him a nod, putting a finger in front of his mouth, and gestured to the ground, "Stay here and keep your head down, unless it's GDI, then rise slowly and make your intent clear."

XXXX

Ahsoka's lightsaber cut through another ECG soldier as they pushed to the Construction Yard. The Hand of Gideon had been obliterated inside out and her team was pushing, with only a few minor injuries so far to her Ranger squad. The Tengu were rushing around, strafing infantry and blowing up freshly deployed SAM sites, and generally causing havoc. She spotted the Ops Center's antennas exploding from interior damage, and knew Coric disabled it. _Not like we're going to use the Ion Cannon at this point anyways..._

"_This is Tengu Three, taken damage to stabilizer two; rocket hits… oh son of a…_" then static from his end; Ahsoka spotted the after-trail of a rocket, no, several rockets, and saw the Tengu explode and collapse back. Ahsoka threw her lightsaber towards the offending rocket soldiers, who had taken cover behind a series of rocks and were coming out to move forward; only for the lightsaber blade to cut into them vertically, leaving severed and cleaved bodies collapsing onto the ground in awkward pieces. Ahsoka called the lightsaber back with the Force, ducking as she was nearly shot in the head by an ECG soldier, the blaster bolt so close she could feel the heat as it just missed one of her head-tails. She caught her lightsaber and leapt back over cover, blocking several more blaster bolts.

Suddenly, one of the Rangers, Sergeant Coddington, dropped, a monstrous hole in his armor's shoulder plate and out through the back of his shoulder, the flesh punched out with a flash of light not unlike a rail gun; Coddington, the tough man he was, a survivor of the destruction of Munich in the Third Tiberium War and many brutal battles in urban combat during the various battles in the mid-late 2050's, pulled himself into cover, grunting, almost shouting in pain, and began trying his own first aid, but he would need a medic; soon, before Tiberium poisoning crept in at all from the Red Zone, even if there was no clumps of Tiberium in the base itself.

"Sniper!" Ahsoka shouted as she expanded her awareness; she sensed the cold, careful personality of a sniper, and looked over while the Rangers took cover.

An ECG sniper was hiding out on the nearest mountainside, in a small foxhole. "Sniper, south-west, take cover!" Ahsoka ordered and one of the Rangers moved to a better position, while Ahsoka was clipping her lightsaber to her belt and pulling from her back a GLS-70 _Akashi_ sniper rifle, the standard sniper rifle from the Third Tiberium War. It was still useful, though modern body armor made a wound less lethal than expected, but it was compact, and that was what Ahsoka needed in most of her battles where she had to use a sniper rifle. _Other guy is probably using something like it, considering he only wounded Coddington… a possibly fatal wound… likely using different ammunition._ She fitted the modernized clip into the rifle, satisfied to see it enter perfectly. _Still, the new ammo ought to punch through the sniper's face._

"Take the shot," McCarthy said, before rising and shooting an ECG Confessor in the chest and causing him to collapse; he didn't have time to pull out his own sniper rifle and aim before getting shot himself, as he had to find the sniper.

She turned around and aimed; looking directly into the other sniper's scope; they seemed to look each other in the eyes for a second that felt like minutes…

Ahsoka pulled the trigger, and the shot went through the enemy snipers' scope and into his head; Ahsoka pulled to the side immediately after firing, but she felt a bullet speed through her right shoulder, cutting through the armor, muscle, tissue, and even bone, and out the other end, leaving a hole in her shoulder blade. A painful, horrific shout of pain escaped her lips, and she instinctively prepared to use a Jedi healing trance; only to realize that ECG didn't have much in the way of Tiberium in their base itself, and the nearest patch of Tiberium was the Tiberium Refinery within the base, a good fifty meters away. The wound seemed to pulse, almost as if it was exploding over and over again.

Ahsoka grunted as she glanced around, her vision clouding as shock took effect from the sniper round; staying in cover, she pulled on her bandoleer, trying to find the painkiller; it would slow her down, but for now, she needed to be able to defend herself, which she couldn't do nearly blind from pain and shock. She lay to the side, realizing that the pressure on her arm was _gravity_. She focused, using the Force to prevent her arm from falling off as it hung by what she hoped was not a thin amount of bone and muscle tendons...

XXXX

"Commander's down, cover fire!" McCarthy ordered, spraying suppressive fire towards an incoming group of ECG soldiers, causing them to hit the dirt and start crawling forward. _Not good…_ "Watch for snipers, I don't want a repeat!" One of the Rangers pulled a pin from a grenade and threw it over, her grenade sailing over and landing on the crawling soldiers; and then bloody threads and scraps of armor flew off. "Damn, someone jumped on the grenade," said the Ranger who threw it before she resumed returning fire with her rail carbine.

His Rangers still in the fight kept the suppressive fire going, but ECG infantry were taking cover competently themselves and giving them a much harder time. _Son of a bitch, ECG's really making themselves intelligent, aren't they; the bastards._

He slipped his rail carbine onto his back harness as it ran out of ammo and pulled out his GLS-97 _Viper _rail sniper rifle, assembling it quickly and glancing over his cover. _The new ionization process for the rail sniper ought to blow heads off. Literally._ He then rose slightly out of cover, his right eye to the scope, aimed, and fired, the sniper rifle round speeding through the ECG soldier's skull and sending him flying back and out of cover towards the construction yard, as well as scattering what left his helmet and brains flying around. It did not help the poor bastard that the weapon he was shot with was designed to punch through light vehicles, like Raider Buggies when they had armored canopies.

He heard someone shout long and loud and, glancing out of his non-scope eye, saw an ECG soldier rushing out of cover, an ancient _katana_ in his hands and he rushed forward. _You gotta be freaking kidding me._ McCarthy thought as he realized this crazy was charging men and women with_ assault and sniper _rifles, with a _fracking __**Katana**__!_ He shifted his aim, and fired. The rail round visibly sped into the charging soldier, catching him in the groin and causing a mass of white and yellow, as well as the expected red gore and black armor, to explode from him, causing the enemy soldier to fall over forward, face scraping against the ground as he slid to a stop, shouting in horrific pain that made a scratching chalkboard sound pleasant. _Poor, deluded _**jackass**. McCarthy thought as he took one last glance at the man who brought a sword to a gunfight, to see a second round go through the soldier's head, spraying some gore out of the hole, but most was within the poor bastard's head.

Glancing around, he spotted another soldier a distance back, laying down cover fire... and not ducking into cover. _Damn, don't tell me that bastard has more range then us!_ he thought, then aimed at the man's head, and pulled the trigger. The ECG soldier's head exploded, helmet fragments and all, as the powerful ionized rail gun round punched through helmet, brain, skull, and hair. _Thanks for standing still, wanker._

XXXX

Disciple Gabriel Delores of ECG ducked behind cover, her rifle in her hands as she saw the GDI sniper blow Hirakata's groin apart as he did his suicidal charge, _Damn idiot,_ she mused before rising, taking several shots before ducking back into cover as an enemy soldier started shooting at her. Cycling in additional power from the reserve batteries, she rose and fired again, getting several bursts off before ducking back into cover. _But you can't deny he _had_ balls..._

She rose, and suddenly a sniper round went right through her chest and blowing out her heart, knocking her back at least seven meters and causing her to skid into a rock, slamming into it, causing her neck to snap, and she knew only death.

XXX

McCarthy shifted his aim away from the most recent kill and aimed for a farther away soldier that was manning a laser cannon much like the one at the bunker they disabled; aiming for the chest as the soldier activated it, he took the shot, blowing a hole and causing him to be knocked back into the Construction Yard itself.

One of the other rangers ducked, grunting, "Gah, we're pinned down! Can't keep this up forever, sir!" she said to McCarthy as she reloaded, then rose up and sprayed covering shots with a rationed manner, not wasting their dwindling ammunition.

"Hold the line." McCarthy ordered, and then he called Coric;

"Sergeant, we need help near the ConYard; Commander's down, so's Sergeant Coddington. We're holding, but we're pinned down and getting to a worry zone with ammo. Get over here as soon as possible!"

XXXX

"Copy that sir; we're securing the second drop zone now. Hold tight."

Warren, while his face was obscured by the faceplate in the Zone Armor, Coric knew exactly what he was thinking: _We got our own problems here._

"I know, I know," Coric answered, rising and firing, missing his target, an ECG Confessor, instead he plastered an oriental lamp hanging on the side of what Coric could tell to be some sort of outdoor _bar_. _In a red zone! With frothy mugs of_... something. Ducking back behind the thick rock, he grunted as the top part of the rock exploded and showered as the heavy beam from the Confessor struck the rock. Warren, finishing his reloading cycle, rose up and unleashed a barrage with the other Enforcers, forcing the Confessor and his soldiers to duck into cover, but as several overly bold soldiers rose, they found their heads ripped open through their armor, scattering what was once brain, skull, and plastic-like helmet out across ECG's cover.

_Need a grenade or two_, Coric thought, waiting a moment, then he rose and fired; the rail gun round speeding forth and blowing a semi-circle into the Confessor's upper chest as he rose to fire, leaving his lower head vaporized and his burnt torso dropping with a thud, the top of his head, besides spilling brain juice and brains across the area, went flying into the air, and Coric lost view of it as he ducked to switch his ammunition clip.

"You pay for that, GDI!" shouted an ECG soldier in broken English; the two sides had only twenty five yards between them; more than enough for shouting. _Well, I'm sure he's more eloquent in his native tongue. Really starting to wish humans just had one language..._ Coric thought grimly

"Come and collect then!" Coric shouted back as he cycled to a different Liquid-T core for power, "I'm sure you'll find it as empty as Gideon!"

The ECG soldiers debated for a minute, though Coric caught a distinct 'are you guys _stupid_', or at least that was what the EVA translation was.

XXX

Warren glanced over, hoping hard they'd charge; he decided to add, "Yeah, come and collect!"

"OK, we'll come and collect, prepare to die; GDI!" answered an ECG soldier with a monotone, then they stormed over, but it was to their own deaths. The Zone Enforcers opened fire, their accelerated rounds blasting forth and ripping through the ECG armor suits and into the flesh and bone of the ECG soldiers, who collapsed and fell as they were ripped apart. Warren let a savage grin cross his face as he ripped the enemy units apart, watching as their lifeless bodies tumbled like rag dolls as his rounds went through their bodies, ripping them open bloodily.

XXX

"You idiots..." said Private Jack Ferran in a mortified tone as he watched the others charge, then resigned himself to the fact he was screwed by their idiocy... He rose up and opened fire on the incoming Zone soldiers, aiming for the heads; but the suits were armored, and they took the hits. A Zone Enforcer jump jetted forward boldly, and came crashing down atop of his cover, knocking him back with the kinetic force of the impact. He ran, only to feel rounds rip through his back and out his chest, and he collapsed in pain.

XXX

Warren paused to examine the brutality of his handiwork, taking a moment to understand the reality of warfare as he looked at the dead ECG soldier.

"I think that worked too well," Coric said in a disturbed voice after they moved up, securing the Drop Zone and pinging Captain Tenzai to send in the 222nd infantry and other reinforcements as deemed appropriate. The 222nd infantry, another platoon under Captain Tenzai landed, with a dozen Spartan tanks in support, and moved to the gates to help hold the line.

"Oh yeah," Bert agreed as the signal was sent, "But hell that was fun, and here I was thinking they'd finally learned how to fight a war."

"Come on," Coric said as the reinforcements landed, "We need to help the Commander. Tengu Lead, Sergeant Granger, come in." Warren listened to the exchange over the platoon's command channel;

"_Tengu Lead here, Sarge, we're trying to get to the Rangers, but those infantry are packing rocket launchers!"_ He heard the sound of the Tengu igniting it's systems and in the distance saw one of the Tengu doing a leap to get away from a rocket.

"Copy that, we're coming on the other side, try and keep them distracted."

"_Copy; Tengu, rip them up!"_

Warren shook his head, _Those Tengu pilots are nuts, given enough time, could make uncle Havvy look sane…_

"Enforcers, suppressive fire, don't let anyone out of cover. The rest of you, with me, we're going to nail the bastards with a storming, getting close and nailing them closely." Coric ordered, "The elites of GDI are counting on us; let's not disappoint them and show them how the grunts do it!"

Warren smiled savagely moved up and looked at the ECG soldiers; they were using cover effectively, and although they did take hits from rail carbine rounds and even the sudden strike of a sniper rifle's bullet. From the other side, the three remaining Tengu spitting their dual chain guns and even launching an under-mounted mini-missile from the 'armpit' launchers. The ECG soldiers were wholly focused on their two flanks facing the Taskforce soldiers. The Zone Troopers rushed in, getting into the enemy cover and beating the crap out of the rear flank. _Easy pickings,_ Warren decided as he realized that he'd be able to rip the ECG units with his Gatling-blaster. Opening fire, the repeated _pew_ of the Gatling gun echoing as they pounded the flanks, Warren felt a smug satisfaction as he watched an ECG soldier scream, surprised and whirled around, only to get more rounds to his chest and face as he fell, ripped open like a soda can thrown into a recycling machine. _Damn_, Warren thought as the ECG soldiers fell quickly, _I really wonder why the hell I even considered the Zone Troopers now; should have been an Enforcer from the get-go. Ah well, cross trained now, probably going to pay off later_. Jump jetting into the fray, Warren landed atop one of the last ECG soldier, crushing her under his boot heel and shattering her ribcage and spine as his heavy suit's weight was accelerated into the earth by gravity, killing her near instantly... or so he assumed. Coric sprinted forward and bashed the last ECG soldier's head in with the butt-end of his rail gun, shattering the man's skull and spine and crushing it into a pulp fortunately hidden by the soldier's cracked helmet... mostly.

"Push to the ConYard," Coric ordered, and Warren nodded, turning and opening fire at the few retreating ECG soldiers trying to get to the ConYard. The last soldier fell from a Tengu landing on top of him and squishing him to something resembling liquidized noodles oozing out of the armor. Warren nodded as EVA confirmed that there were no more hostiles nearby, but few sporadic conflicts at the gates were still going on, the gate now held by the 222nd infantry, but almost over as survivor patrols tried to take the base back; and failed before they even stood a chance.

"Squad, check in." Warren ordered. Several of his squad were injured, but most were alive and only suffered suit damage.

He glanced back and saw Coric talking rapidly to the Firestorm Taskforce Captain._ What's the man's name... McGuire... McDonalds..._ He had EVA check the soldiers' IFF; _Ah, Captain McCarthy._ He then glanced at Coric; remembering the reason the Taskforce soldiers needed help. _He sure looks worried; hell, I'd be too; Ahsoka's practically his big sister…._ He glanced at the other soldiers, and then to the last echoes of the battle as the other ECG soldiers were removed.

"Alright, the Sarge is busy, platoon, report in."

He mentally checked off the list, sighed; several more dead and most of them were sporting suit damage. _Hell, the bastards even got Vikki; how the hell did I not notice her buy a farm?_

XXXX

Ahsoka panted as the shock from the wound kept her heart rate irregular, despite the painkiller she took and the admittedly difficult healing trance she had entered, trying to use the Force to keep the wound from spreading and her right arm from possibly falling off. _Stang, if that sniper used an old GDI rifle…_ She shivered as the seconds quickly dragged into minutes…

She felt someone, something grab her left arm, and she glanced; in front of her was a GDI medic. "Ma'am," said the medic, gently lowering her onto her back and shifting her onto a stretcher, "Hold tight… I need to remove those plates."

Ahsoka tried to nod, but whatever had hit her was powerful. The medic gently removed the plate and winced, then pulled out his first aid kit; "This is going to hurt…"

Ahsoka almost screamed, _No kidding…_ she thought.

XXX

McCarthy kicked the disabled door open and aimed; seeing nothing. He nodded, "McCarthy to _Enoch_, ConYard is clear. I repeat, ConYard is clear."

"_Copy that. Confirm shard's status_."

"Confirming now." He heard the communications officer hung up, and went out the back, into a recently made tunnel. He hit the wall as he heard a voice ahead.

"Are the C4 charges set?" said a richly accented officer, likely of a Siberian nation's descent.

"Yes, Vizier." Answered a technician, possibly of Australian descent, "The fascists will not get the shard."

"Good. Let's get out of here; board the Reckoner… a pity we lost so many, they were good soldiers, but alas, in the end, you sometimes sacrifice the pawns."

McCarthy crept in, and saw the ECG officers walking into the Reckoner, which seemed to be equipped to tunnel. McCarthy aimed his sniper rifle at the ECG Vizier, and pulled the trigger, before ducking into cover and rising to taking another shot, knocking the Technician dead. Switching to his carbine as he moved up and towards the Reckoner, two more Confessors came out, but before they could bring their rifles to bear, McCarthy shot both of them, and they collapsed… only to crawl into cover, but away from the detonator. _Damn it!_ McCarthy thought, sprinted to the Reckoner as bullets trailed after him, jumping inside and shutting it, he moved to the cockpit, shooting the pilot before he could shoot McCarthy with a pistol, and used the pilot's key to manually lock the Reckoner's systems. He walked back out to the back and lowered the back transport door, using the dead technician as a meat shield and a heavy service pistol in his other hand. As it opened, the Confessors fired, but their bullets were not armor piercing, and thus could not pierce the moderate armor on the technician or McCarthy's worn Zone Armor. Hitting the Confessors with repeated pistol shots as he moved forward, the two collapsed and he threw the technician's corpse at them and pulled his assault rifle out again, then filled all of them with bullets, accelerated by his rail carbine, ripped through the three of them.

He grunted as the last shot from the now-dead Confessor bounced off his shin guard. Shaking his head, he used the detonator to find and disarm the remote C4 charges. The task done, he called the _Enoch's _communications officer.

"Captain McCarthy to _Enoch_, shard located, within a tunnel behind the ConYard, entered through it directly. Enemy forces attempted to bury it with explosives, but I was able to disable them and kill the ECG officers behind the base; they gave no offer of surrendering."

"_Understood, General Nagama said 'Good Job'."_

McCarthy nodded, and the connection ended. Several Zone Troopers and an Enforcer came in.

"Corporal Bert Alistair, reporting for guard duty." The Enforcer said.

McCarthy nodded, "Good; call the moment something out of place happens. How's the Commander?"

Bert shifted, "She's fine, sir, don't worry."

Frowning, McCarthy said, "I want a straight answer, _soldier_."

"Medic was tending to her the last I saw, _sir_. She looked fine by my judgment, but I'm not a medic, _sir._"

"So be it." He walked out of the ConYard, making a mental note to mark a note on Alistair about conduct...

XXXX

Coric was tense as the medics bound Ahsoka's injured shoulder; the hole in her shoulder looked monstrous to him, the blood and some threads of muscle were visible within the hole; the bone was mostly broken, the medic calling it a 'medical miracle' that she didn't lose the whole bone and through that, arm. Her right shoulder plate also sported a hole, but the medics said 'they could fix it'. They had sedated her as they needed to work and the wound was highly sensitive and they said that she was in 'too much pain to be able to handle it safely.'

He accessed his EVA unit's E-mail functions, used by GDI soldiers for personal mail, and drafted a message for his parents; Rex, who was stationed on the GST _Uzziel,_ while his mother was at the TCN Hub in the Baltic. He mentioned the changes in his platoon (but no specific numbers or indicators of its true strength), Ahsoka's injuries (including some other wounds on the thighs and a broken rib), and the usual love.

He was shaken from his drafting when EVA gave him a warning;

"**Incoming Transmission."**

Captain Tenzai appeared, face grave; "Sergeant; I just received word. I want to speak to you later, once you've finished your duties on the ground."

"Understood, sir. I'll ready a report on the battle once we catch a breather, sir."

XXXXX

**0700 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time; used onboard GDI Space Ships/Stations)**

**GDI Military Tribunal**

_**GST Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

General Joshua "Mitch" Mitchell of the Steel Talons watched irritably as the tribunal deliberated. _Damn it gentlemen,_ he thought, _this isn't a big matter, if you follow your own rules; you'll find that there's nothing wrong._ While Ahsoka had been blasting her way through ECG soldiers, Mitchell had been (almost literally) tackling the various high-paid lawyers and managed to get the case out of politicians' football stadium and into a place where there was a fair chance. Mitchell had no idea what the Council was thinking when it decided it was necessary to sever Rex and Sarah's marriage, which was really not an issue an almost minor trivia at that point, as both rarely saw each other because of their respective duties. Rex was sitting just behind Mitchell, watching.

Finally, one of the Tribunal members, a retired Commander of the Third Tiberium War, Commander Han Ferrell, rose; "General, we've looked into the matter in details and read military law and regulations. We've found no reason to…" he was interrupted as the doors banged open and the Council's speaker came over.

"Oh for fuck's sake;" said a former Commando, ex-Captain Higgins, on the Tribunal, missing both legs after losing both to an ECG Black Hand flamethrower strike during ECG's assault on the Australian Hub, instead of being in a wheelchair with stumps, however, he was using new cybernetics, replacing his legs with GDI's first of a line of replacement robotic legs; issued out to war veterans who lost limbs to war, all designed by Doctor Pascal.

The speaker walked up and whispered to the Tribunal, which reacted with irritation. Commander Ferrell sighed, and said, "General Mitchell; the… Council wants to hear the reasons why this shouldn't be investigated further."

_Those sons of…_

"Fine, but I want Rex and Sarah Granger here if the Council's coming." Mitchell said, "Otherwise, the Council can suck a Titan's One-fifty-five." _And I mean exactly what you think I meant, dick._ he thought savagely at the council's political spokesman.

The speaker opened his mouth; shocked, and Mitchell continued. "If the Council, a civilian body, wants to get its sorry ass involved in military matters, especially such _personal_ matters, then they can say it to their face! I don't think they have the _balls_ to say it to their faces, to _see_ what they're doing, _who_ they're doing it do."

"Ah, General," Ferrell said with a sigh, "Please mind your language, this _is_ a court. There's a reason why there's ward rooms on every GST and most permanent GDI bases."

"I apologize," Mitchell responded, knowing Ferrell was probably enjoying the verbal abuse of a man who _was_ a walking political incident waiting to happen. _Long as he stays as relaying words made by the more intelligent councilors, he'll be fine._

The speaker listened to his earpiece, and nodded; "So be it. Tomorrow, 1200 GMT. There may be journalists, by the way; we'll do what we can, but it's likely they'll slip an agent in; no live recordings, if you wish, but at the very least they want to hear."

Mitchell frowned, this _was_ a military matter… but the Council wasn't stupid, they'd never pull something so weak that it'd backfire without a plausible reason to keep that from happening and get people into a wild frenzy.

"Fine, let the cameras in; but I want to be able to knock it off the air before any classified data is revealed."

XXXX

**Several Minutes Later**

"General, are you sure you should be talking to me?" asked Ex-Commander Ferrell as Mitchell walked up to him.

"You really think I can bribe you in the middle of the courtroom?" Mitchell asked, shaking his head and gesturing to everyone still inside. "I haven't had time to speak with the Tribunal members. So, how do you feel about this mess?"

"Damn waste of time if you ask me," Ferrell said, shaking his head, "We have bigger matters than someone's personal life; hasn't interfered with duties, has it? Higgins is of the same mind, though he does have questions on ol' Renteria's thoughts when assigning Sarah to guard duty."

"Well, considering guard duty is boring as hell, you'd almost think he thought of it as a punishment."

Ferrell chuckled, "Ah, I miss being in the Steel Talons, even guard duty was fun because we'd be fragging practice targets to test new gear. I don't miss getting shot at, though."

"I don't blame you," Mitchell answered, "Still, you earned your retirement."

"I know, but teaching at military school just isn't quite what it's cracked up to be. I swear our recruits get dumber by the day."

"I'll say," Rex chimed in, walking over, "Some of the units I'm commanding need everything spelled out to them; I can't just tell them 'Secure that node, focus on the ECG Scorpion tank' without also adding 'Then take out the infantry, check the node for booby-traps, and when that's done, if you need to, use the stanging bathroom so you don't wet your suits repeatedly.'"

Mitchell's jaw almost dropped; he never expected Rex to be making jokes at a time like this; Ferrell was amused. "Good to see you still have the humor, Rex. Sorry this mess came down here."

"So am I," Rex said, then glanced at his wrist EVA unit, "Excuse me, I need to go tell Sarah what's happened."

"Of course; ah, General, if you'll excuse me, I need to pull strings and get the paperwork sorted."

"Of course." As a Tribunal member, even as an ex-Commander, Ferrell still had authority in regards to military justice. And considering Sarah was currently stationed at Black Forest, and not on scheduled leave or anything like that, there _was_ paperwork that needed to be pushed. Ferrell left, consulting a wrist EVA unit as he walked.

Mitchell walked towards one of the others, and saw Ex-Commander Webber talking to some of his trainee officers, officers he taught what he could, and they sometimes accompanied him so he could continue teaching when handling matters like military justice. "Yes, cyborgs are always a great threat. They are like computers, reprogrammable. The usage of cybernetics by anyone within GDI is asking for trouble. If Nod didn't invest in cybernetics during and after the Second Tiberium War, many of our people would still be alive. If we let a cyborg remain within GDI, all that we will gain is a knife in the back. I'm not letting our soldiers take _that_ risk; they already risk enough, their lives, their families' happiness, to have another risk shoved behind them. It's a shame it had to happen to a good soldier, though. She knew the risks when she signed up for GDI. With luck, she'll find peace soon. In pieces, if needed. Regardless, I call this as Kane being cruel with his so-called mercy." There was a distinct tone of sadness, as if Webber, despite hating cyborgs with a passion, hated the fact that it was a GDI soldier being talked about. Or maybe it was an act. Mitchell couldn't quite tell, but the bitterness at Kane was genuine. Then his brain worked out the 'in pieces' part...

Mitchell bit his tongue, wanting to walk up and just punch Webber out the viewport for suggesting the execution of an honorable GDI soldier who got an extremely _raw_ deal at the hands of Nod. _Narrow minded bastard,_ Mitchell thought, _only hates cyborgs… well, he lost his whole unit during the First Firestorm Crisis; but still, if he can't look at good soldiers without stereotyping, then he really has a lot to learn… Hell, I'm older then the kid and he's retired… then again, he was an infantryman the whole time, tours of duty tend to be shorter once they add up._

He considered the Council, particularly those who disliked Rex during his tenure as he clamped down a good bit on them, especially in military matters where they felt they had greatest right to interfere. A few names rising to his mind… _Hmmm… there's something…_

He activated his EVA unit, and accessed GDI's database, entering in his General's authorization. He needed to dig up history, motives; to find out how they thought. The Councilors he knew who'd be involved would try to find ways to bend evidence in their favor and use hard numbers, numbers that were effectively worthless when looked at, and try to use that... he had to make them _not_ want to do so.

XXXX

**ECG Headquarters**

**Giraud-Mobius Tiberium Crater**

**Red Zone**

Gideon sighed, putting a hand on his forehead as he heard the report. _That was months of hard work, recruitment, you GDI bastards... _"Was GDI denied the shard, at least?"

"No, your eminence." Said the soldier, a scout who only survived by virtue that she wasn't in the base itself and on patrol, and she had the intelligence to do subtle reconnaissance rather than a suicidal attack like others. She had nearly actually be _shot_ by an officer who saw the occupation of the training center as sacrilege and blasphemy, "GDI is likely removing the shard from its location as we speak. However, there is a spark of good news."

"Oh?" Gideon said, looking at her, curious.

"I saw the GDI Commando, Ahsoka Tano… being put onto a GDI shuttle… on a medical stretcher."

"Status?"

"Unknown, but her right shoulder was heavily bandaged, and I found in the foxhole I was observing from a fired GLS-70 _Akashi_-class sniper rifle; with our modified ammunition system."

Gideon perked an eyebrow; the GLS-70 _Akashi_-class sniper rifles were used by GDI for their compact size and sniping power during the Third Tiberium War; it had a removable barrel, allowing it to be kept compact at the cost of a slightly less velocity; he had, after his men looted a stash of them along with extrapolating their blueprints successfully, ordered ECG to create a proper sniper corps for the Black Hand and to assign to normal assault units; because the ammunition system was adaptable (as GDI snipers couldn't always get their hands on GDI's rail sniper rounds), he had ordered the new prototype of bullet shell using a mix of miniature Catalyst missile warhead and Tiberium; the Tiberium would spread into the target and the impact force would cause the catalyst missile warhead's chain reaction, creating a powerful and lethal wound that would take effect quickly; it was still in the prototypical stages and was being developed mostly at the research base he had in Tibet, but he had ordered some snipers to begin training, sprinkling one or two into every camp and having them instructed over a real-time EVA uplink, to prevent GDI from discovering the training of a proper sniper corps.

"Elaborate." he said, interested, "What occurred with the sniper rifle?"

"I wasn't there, and I found the sniper with a hole where his right eye was, but I think he managed to hit her in the shoulder with the sniper rifle. A second GDI SpecOps soldier was also put into the medical shuttle; looking much worse off than Tano."

Gideon's fingertips touched as he smiled, "Good. Dismissed, Disciple." _I should arrange for her to be trained up to Black Hand standards; she has the talents and the intelligence to fight effectively in a modern battlefield._

He brought up his EVA unit; "I want an elite team of snipers located and readied; they're to be equipped with Project Blackout and prioritized for deployment where GDI Commando Ahsoka Tano is located; I want them to hit her with a sniper attack during a battle and knock her out... _permanently_."

"**Complying.**" His 'male' EVA unit said, and Gideon smiled as he leaned back into his hard-wood chair, pondering his next move.

XXXX

**The Next Day**

**February 4****th****, 2067**

**1200 Hours**

_**GST Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

Sarah and Rex sat next to each other and watched as Mitchell stood, the military Tribunal in the center, with various Council members appearing via hologram.

Shaking his head, Mitchell waited. Ex-Commander Farrell stood, "Order in the court; this trial is recalled to decide whether or not General Rex and Captain Sarah Granger have broken GDI regulation in regards to intimate relationship. General Mitchell, you are still defending them on their behalf?"

"Of course." He said bluntly.

"So be it… Councilor Jenkins?"

A fat, plump man in a suit stood from his hologram, "Yes, of course. I will be prosecuting."

Ferrell nodded, "Court is in session. Councilor?"

Mitchell nodded, and sat down.

Jenkins rose, "Very well. As known, GDI allows close personal relations, such as marriage or its equivalent in the person's culture. Captain Granger and General Rex Granger are of more than one difference in rank, the limit for such relationships. As such, the maintaining of their relationship is an obvious case of a simple regulation breach; regardless of intent or faith to their duties. Quote, "

Ferrell nodded; "Mitchell?"

"Thank you, Commander." Mitchell said, rising. He looked at each Councilor as he paced; "Councilors; Members of the Tribunal. I am aware of this regulation; however, I must point out a considerable amount of _common sense_." He paused, letting the council hear those words. "Record back to 2048, when then-Director Rex, Director being a _civilian rank,_ was married to Captain Granger. The regulations allow for a soldier to marry a civilian without interference, so long as it does not distract them from their duties. As time passed, no issue ever came up, and despite their differing duties, they maintained a healthy relationship _without_ clouding their duties."

"Perhaps Captain Granger's guard duty had something to do with it?" Jenkins interjected.

"Perhaps, Councilor, but the fact that she became pregnant, and, I add, _after taking all the possible precautions,_ may have adjusted General Renteria's mindset, as she assigned the orders, not me, and Rex did not even have authority in that area."

"Conveniently, General Renteria is dead, so she can't explain it. And her more personal files were destroyed during the Mount Cheyenne attack."

Mitchell glowered at Jenkins, and walked up to his hologram; "You talk big behind a hologram, Councilor Jenkins. But say that to the face of a soldier who has lost a loved one in the line of duty, and _then_ make the claim; _**if**_ you survive."

The council whispered, surprised at Mitchell's brutal courtroom tactics, Ferrell inhaled sharply, then said, "General; please." while Webber shook his head.

"The point remains;" Jenkins said, "they are of significantly differing rank, they have no business being officially married, child or not. Fortunately, the child is old enough now, but many children have not been so lucky."

Mitchell paced, considering. The Council had a vote on the case now, but their vote was equal to that of the Tribunal, and some of the Tribunal disliked Sarah for being resurrected, willingly or not, by Nod forces, as well as for her cybernetic augmentation. Countering that was the fact he noticed some councilors who normally would of left this case alone... _They must realize this is complete bullshit. _he realized, glad that the sane members of the Council were willing to try and curb the excess' of the less-than-sane. Still, he had to deliver a grand shock, hard and fast, and then call upon those who have served in GDI, alongside them, under them, over them, and seal the situation in a political shithole. He needed to either force the stupider Councilors to realize the political _shit-storm_ they were going to make, or get the members of the Tribunal who were rough towards Sarah and Rex realize that what they were doing here was completely out of line.

"Councilors, Members of the Tribunal," Mitchell began, pacing, "You mention that this marriage is unfair and illegal due to regulation in regards to differing ranks that they now hold… however, there are key flaws in your arguments."

He turned to the Council, none of them had ever been in the military, for those who were former soldiers had said they would not 'step in on affairs no longer their own'. "You councilors have not fought in war, you do not truly know the sacrifices our soldiers make daily, yet you have the _gall_ to harass a soldier who has _died_ in the line of duty and _insult her_, her _honor_, and her judgment. You have the gall to insult a heroof the _Third Tiberium War!_ You now come to me, insulting them, calling them out of line; _when their marriage was sundered by war, leaving them separated for ten years__**!**_ And _then_ when it's revealed that she was alive, their marriage, their love, was almost destroyed by the fact that she was _experimented on_ by _**Kane**_, which, by a means only God or whatever power there is knows. You think their marriage has been a long and happy one? No, but they _still_ love each other, _despite_ the fact that Sarah is now a cyborg, _despite the fact_ that Rex is a GDI General; who has done his professional best to avoid situations that will bring up his personal life in his duties. You're telling me now that this effort to serve and protect humanity, at the possible cost of their relationship, is grounds to see one ousted from service?"

"General, this has nothing to do with their motives or their outstanding moral characteristics; it is a simple legali…" Jenkins began, but Mitchell interrupted him.

"You don't care about them, do you, Jenkins? You just want to see Sarah _suffer_ because her grandfather defeated yours during the Eastern Conflicts in 2001, this is, for you, familial payback." Mitchell turned to each councilor, "You, Raedarius, you want revenge for Rex replacing Boyle and putting you career in the proverbial ditch, after Boyle, time and again, proved that _**he did not have the **__**moral character**__** to lead GDI**_! You, Ex-Commander Webber, you want to see Sarah suffer due to the fact that she's a _cyborg_, an _unwilling victim_ of experimentations that she never had a chance to consent to, yet despite it she's done her duty, serving longer then you ever did as a Zone Trooper. Yet you councilors still see the need to play political power plays, choosing to lord your authority over these two _brave_ soldiers who risked their lives countless times in the field and continue to serve to the best of their abilities. They've made sacrifices so that you could have enjoyed the peace you grew up with, yet all you can do is use them as tools, thinking that by humiliating them in court, you could boost your prestige amongst the populace." He was fishing a good bit at that point, but he made the exact idea of what he saw going on verbalized.

"General," Jenkins said, surprised, "This is going far beyond…"

"You can do whatever the _**fuck**_ you want with your politics, Councilor!" Mitchell said aggressively, putting his face almost literally in Jenkins' (holographic) face, knowing that the pure anger that was pouring into his voice would be intimidating to him, "But you leave our soldiers, the same men and women who go out, fighting and _dying_ on the battlefields, out of your political _**bullshit.**_" He pulled away, and sat down next to Rex and Sarah, leaving the few journalists and the off-duty soldiers watching to mutter to each other, debating; but it was clear, people were swayed away from the prosecution... or Mitchell was going to be in a _lot_ of trouble for his crude language in court.

"You really shouldn't have done that," Rex whispered as the journalists muttered darkly, some checking the feed on their hover cameras, and soldiers who were off-duty and watching began to mutter to, "This is just going to turn into a political power game and shouting match."

"That's all it ever was, Rex." Sarah answered, "and Mitchell shot it right back at them. He basically summed the bastards up. Of course, not everyone is, but he got the ones who needed to be noted."

One by one, the Tribunal voted… Mitchell tensed; this was the moment where his bold maneuver either worked, or failed wholly.

XXXX

**Former ECG Base**

**Northern China**

**Red Zone**

"Alright," said the medic, "Commander is sedated and ready to transport. Let's get this shuttle going, we need to get her to the _Methuselah_ ASAP so we can get her treated."

"What about the shard?" asked the pilot, "The whole point of this operation…"

"Our boys can guard the shard until the Commander's able to recover it; for now, let's go."

"Yes sir."

McCarthy shook his head as he watched the shuttle take off. _Damn well wish Ahsoka didn't take that hit, now we have to bunker down here, and worse, she's hurt like hell on Tiberium-laced Steroids._ An MCV was launched down by General Nagama and was fortifying the base, setting up Watchtowers and Guardian Cannons at the base entrances, while also setting up a Barracks Complex and War Factory to allow them to keep their equipment and tanks in shape in the case of the latter, while the former was to house the soldiers who were on-base. It was all modular and could be easily removed and packed back up, allowing GDI to avoid leaving ECG their equipment when it came time to pull out with the shard.

Sergeant Granger walked up to him, and saluted; "Reporting for duty, sir."

Nodding back, he answered, "At ease. Have your men patrol the base itself and stay alert; establish shifts for your men; my team will station at the shard." He glanced over, and was surprised to see Ajay, donned in his normal outfit with GDI armor almost slipped over, walking up; "Ah, Lieutenant Ajay?"

"Yeah, hold on," he said, fiddling with his EVA unit; several tank-like vehicles that seemed to be Guardian Cannons on treads rolled up and stopped; Ajay nodded. "Just making sure our Spartan complement was working."

"Good, now get back into the ConYard; you're not a combatant."

"I know, Captain, I know. I also did a sweep for bugs, the shard site was filled with them, but they're all disabled now."

"Right, now get to cover."

"Alright already," Ajay said, and as he turned, McCarthy realized Ajay had an assault rifle on a bandoleer on his back. _He _was_ a Nod agent…_ McCarthy remembered, and then realized that Ajay was competent with combat weaponry and in a firefight, he just was a better InOps agent then he was a soldier.

XXXX

**GDI Military Tribunal**

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

Ferrell nodded as the results were in; Mitchell felt a knot of tension ease.

"The Tribunal is in agreement; these charges are _**false**_. General, Captain, you are cleared of these charges; however, the Tribunal does advise that you find a way to solve this problem in the near future."

"Of course, Commander." Sarah said, nodding briefly, and then left with Rex. Mitchell watched the two leave, sighing. The Council members on hologram winked out one by one and the meeting room used for the trial ended.

Ferrell walked over to Mitchell and shook his hand; "Good job calling this one the carpet, General. That needed to be said."

"I know; I was expecting to have to call up as many people as I could to verify how bull-shitty this was and make it clear it'd be a political stink."

"Ah, Mitch, you magnificent bastard."

XXXX

**Nod Base**

**Cairo**

**Codename: **_**Crusader's Rest Actual**_

**Blue Zone**

Kane nodded as he, from his personal quarters, oversaw the recovery of Abel's 'tomb'; it had been left to the elements underground ever since the First Tiberium War; it was time to re-excavate the tomb and ensure its catacombs were not infested by ECG… or worse. It had an element key to his plans; which would allow, in addition to Ascension, a receptacle to restore the Tacitus. With the Nod base being refurbished as well, it would easily allow Nod to defend the location while the Tacitus was being restored.

He frowned as he thought back; here, twenty years ago, his forces launched a missile that destroyed the _Philadelphia_; and thirty-seven years ago, where his World-Altering Missile was almost launched, the missile which would have led the Scrin to Earth far before the Scrin were ready, only for McNeil and his lackeys to break through, and see him both shot and impaled by a makeshift spear… and sixty-six years ago, then-Captain Nick Seymour "_Havoc_" Parker destroyed the Temple of Nod within Cairo, breaching down into Abel's tomb and leaving the whole facility obliterated by Kane's own nuclear warhead. Kane shook his head as the memories returned. _GDI has won key victories here, where the Brotherhood was founded… and here, here will the Brotherhood rebuild further. Here, once all the pieces are gathered, the Tacitus will be restored._

He frowned as he saw something begin to claw its way up from below the excavation, one of the engineers swearing up a holy storm as she saw it… _So, some of ReGenesis survived._ Kane mused; "Send in a Black Hand security team to the Excavation site; bring a Flamethrower unit."

"Yes, my lord;" answered the on-site Black Hand leader, Deacon Tabor.

Kane frowned as the excavation gave way, and to his surprise, a humanoid creature with pale green skin, Tiberium sticking out of his neck and arms, his face almost melting into his throat and it too it's body. It was an Initiate, leftover and rabid from Project ReGenesis. Following was an Acolyte, much thinner and with a face-plate with one eye.

"Deacon…" Kane said, putting an edge of worry to his tone, "Are your units entering?"

"They're moving; please stand by, your eminence…" the Deacon responded, "We'll be in there in a minute."

The rabid experiments broke through; on site Awakened, bearing the Mark of Kane, aimed their particle beams at the experiments and fired. The first two screamed as their flesh was incinerated, and they fell back down. More attempted to, but the Awakened, while failing to push them back, steadily kept them contained… it almost looked… _boring_ to the Awakened.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion of green Tiberium, and the rabid experiments broke through, overwhelming the Awakened and mauling them to death and breaking them, ripping them open, exposing the wiring that had made them cyborgs. The Black Hand squad arrived and opened literal fire with their flamethrowers. The Black Hand, split in two squads of three to account for the two entrances, kept the flame going, burning the extremely high number of experiments near-instantly as the purifying flames touched them, causing them to melt rapidly into puddles of blue burning goo with green Tiberium vapor coming off, mixing with the blue goo and creating a toxic and horrifying solution. Flame had always been useful to contain Tiberium-based life forms, if only because it burned for a long time and could counteract any mutant regeneration... and the purifying flames worked even faster, reducing flesh and bone to liquid state, even a gaseous state, with just _contact_.

But to Kane's surprise, a number more came out wielding archaic Tiberium Auto-Rifles and opened fired, the repeated hits initially unperturbed Black Hand soldiers. The Black Hand soldiers just laughed, Kane could hear one of them shout, "They think to hurt the will of Kane!"

Suddenly, the soldier who said that received a shard of Tiberium through the Plexiglas cover, breaking and shooting into his eye. The raw Tiberium caused the disciple to scream and collapse despite his training as the Tiberium shut his brain down, twenty seconds of agony, then his body had repeated spasms as the crystal overwhelmed and took over his body, crystallizing him. And he died such. The repeated barrage succeeded in doing the same to several other Black Hand Disciples, only one survived…

"Retreat," Kane ordered, "Pull out and seal the area; disable the lift as you escape."

The Disciple hesitated, then disconnected his flamethrower, running, reaching the old communications blister and activating the lift. The experiments followed as Kane watched through the monitors, the Disciple pulled his pistol out and took several shots, the burst of light flashing over and nailing the first few experiments as the archaic platform rose; he escaped up top and shot the panel several times, disabling it permanently

Kane sighed, putting a hand on his head. He would need to have the area cleansed with more firepower now; more than Nod had to spare with recent defections to Gideon and the need of Nod soldiers to try and support GDI, never mind special missions to prepare Ascension. _How fickle humanity can be…_ Kane thought, _Many are faithful to me, yet many more who claim they are leave because there is something simple, so simple…_

Deacon Tabor knocked at the door; "Enter." Kane said, putting a practiced frown on his face to display his displeasure.

"Deacon," he began as she entered, "This is a disturbing turn of events."

"I… I have no excuse." She said, lowering her head, as if expecting punishment.

"Your soldiers failed… and now the problem has become much more difficult. I want a forward post established within the Communications Suite that is now sealed off; you are to take your men inside and hold the line; ensure that none of the experiments make it through; if they do, I expect that you have _died_ trying to stop it."

She gulped, then nodded, "Yes, your eminence." With that, she bowed and left. Kane could see her shaking in fear. _Good,_ Kane thought, _She understands the severity of this task._

XXXX

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

"Son of a bitch," Mitchell said as he listened to the report, "This is just nuts."

"_Yes sir_," answered Ajay, who was transmitting still from the captured ECG base, "_I'm still surprised myself; I mean, she gets shot to hell every other month, but a sniper round that nearly killed her by nailing the shoulder? I mean, I can understand the shock being lethal, but the medics say they kept her from getting too deep into it to be life threatening."_

"Did you acquire a sample of the weapon?"

"_Negative. The doctors might discover something, but until then we have no idea what they used on the Commander or Sergeant Coddington_."

"Understood. How's the base holding?"

"_Had a few Tiberium Life Form strikes, but we haven't lost a man over it yet. But it's not the unusual kind; just the random Visceroid or Fiend kind_."

Nodding, Mitchell looked over a new report… "Son of a… Ajay, you better listen to this for the Commander." He opened the file after ensuring Ajay could see and hear.

Kane appeared, concerned, "_General Mitchell. We were excavating the original Nod Temple within Cairo when we discovered that Project ReGenesis has leftover a large number of rabid Tiberium life forms. The Black Hand and Marked of Kane are not capable of removing them due to sheer numbers and the limitation on our forces. I am asking GDI for assistance; it is mutually beneficial for us, for if the temple is reclaimed, the Tacitus can be restored, and GDI can have it back; but we need assistance in clearing the temple's bowels, so it can be recovered._"

Ajay dropped his jaw for a moment, then asked, "_What the hell_?"

"That's what I'm thinking, Lieutenant." Mitchell said, frowning, "For now, get me Captain McCarthy; I'm going to contact Kane."

"_Yes sir_." Ajay said, nodding, before he cancelled his link, while Mitchell's communications officer opened a link to Kane.

Kane appeared, and looked at him, _"General_?"

"I have a proposition, _Kane_." Mitchell said, putting a hint of bile into his voice, holding his hands behind his back and keeping his face casual, "Commander Tano is heavily injured and incapable of recovering the shard we just reacquired. You get that shard and give GDI full access to the temple in Cairo, especially any historical artifacts for study by our archeologists, I'll ready a commando team specially equipped to tackle Tiberium life forms to clear the Cairo Temple."

Kane raised his eyebrows, pondering for a minute, then said, "_Agreed, General. I'll make preparations to leave immediately._"

"Good." Mitchell said, "Now, send us a briefing of what you know we're up against, and I'll make the arrangements and make sure the squad is properly prepared."

"_Very well_." Kane said, then transmission cut. Mitchell looked over the medical report on Ahsoka's current condition; _Not good at all..._ Mitchell thought.

XXXXX

**February 5****th****, 2067**

**Captured ECG Base**

**Northern China**

**Red Zone**

"Sergeant Granger," said someone via radio as he blinked, waking up.

"Huh?" he answered, groggily. "Is something going on?"

"Live transmission from _GST Methuselah_," said the voice. "Understood, tell General Mitchell…"

"It's Captain Granger. Hang on, I'll patch it to your EVA unit." Coric finally recognized the voice; Ajay.

Coric rubbed his eyes and activated his wrist EVA.

His mother, Sarah, appeared on the screen, Rex next to her; by the looks of it, they were in an off-duty room.

"Mom? Dad?" Coric asked, surprised, "What's going on, do you know what time it is?"

"_Sorry son_,_ we're in GMT up here_" Rex said, "_but we wanted you to hear about it from us rather than rumors_."

"Okay…" Coric said slowly, "What is it?"

"_Some politician or paper pusher got it into his thick skull to charge us over our marriage_."

Coric was instantly awake, "What the _hell?_ **Now** they do it? After almost five years and now they're doing it?"

"_Did it, and failed_." Sarah said, smiling, "_Mitchell gave them a verbal beating and managed to force the Council to drop it, no strings attached_."

Coric smiled, "Wish I was there; when did it happen?"

Rex sighed, "_While you were in action_."

"_Really, it was completely unnecessary_," Sarah said, sighing, "_We barely get time together as it is, as a family_."

"One day, mom, one day," Coric answered, hoping that that time came soon, "But for now, we have to make sure there _is_ a time we can do it. I love both of you, and I'll see you when I'm on leave."

"_Sleep tight, son_," Rex said, smiling. Coric returned it as he cut the link off and lay back down, shaking his head as the days of a childhood long since passed came up in his mind.

Yes, he could sleep tight tonight.

XXXXX

XXXXXX

XXXXXXX

**Author's Notes:**

**I'll be making ECG a proper arsenal in its own right, and making it differentiated enough from baseline Nod that it's easier to tell them apart. This is more for my benefit and to allow the exploration of new tactics then to simply have it be a complete mirror-match. It's not to say some units will not be shared, such as, say, Cobra gunship/fighters, but in general, Nod and ECG will keep their arsenals differed at basic levels. This revitalization of ECG also allows me to make some more dangerous threats that are believable to be capable of threatening GDI, while simultaneously making it easier to have firefights between ECG and Nod without having to use the repetitive "The Nod Devout cyborg shot the ECG Devout cyborg, blasting his head in with repeated chain-gun rounds and smote the vilest foe in the name of Kane...," well, you get the idea. Taking nods from old school Nod, such as the good old classic Light Infantry and Rocket Soldiers. No more militants (Rioters with Molotov's, on the other hand...) Required reading for ECG soldiers includes the Evil Henchman's Guide. Unfortunately for ECG, not all read it. As you can tell, one got his groin shot off with a sniper rifle that can punch through light vehicles. Obviously their armor can't save them against Rail Guns, but it's better than nothing. Think Stormtrooper armor; it's good for stopping weaker weapons and blasts that hit near, but a direct hit and it can't do much. Zone Armor is better, but a lot bulkier, making it far more easier to hit.**

**The Firestorm Taskforce's Zone Rangers will eventually be renamed **_**Zone Infiltrators**_**, reusing the original name for the Zone Enforcer. Call the Infiltrator a Taskforce special unit, much like Titans are unique to the Steel Talons in Kane's Wrath. I realized that Zone Armor as it is was far too bulky for most interior combat, which is something the Taskforce would need desperately if they had to go Rebel Alliance on the Scrin, hence why the Taskforce would outfit soldiers with the harder-to-produce but smaller suits of armor. I take some hints from Mass Effect by Bioware for the action, especially infantry battles... we need a tank battle or two, now that I think of it; most of the writing I do is either grunt work or in the skies...**

**I understand that I tend to portray Ahsoka a bit Mary-sue like, especially in a fight (though your mileage may vary), I realized it, so I'm going to start to 'snap her out of it'. Originally I planned to have McCarthy give her a form of a 'you need to loosen up off-duty and stop worrying about fitting a mold perfectly, you aren't some messiah-type, no matter how badass you are', but I think I'll have it done later. Really, I think it's a problem of goddamn English teachers and having them make you look for motive for everything... makes it hard to write more casual events. Maybe not.**

**Snipers being back… well, you'd figure that ECG would starting adapting eventually; I'm sort of having Gideon grow as time goes on; initially he was just a fanatic, but he is going to develop character wise to someone who, while certainly not as savvy as Kane, could at least give him a run for his money and grow beyond your simple fanatical leader. I dunno, Gideon felt relatively flat in C&C 4, so I'm trying to flesh him out more. (And he was annoying with his taunting while I was blowing the crap out of his defenseless crawler...)**

**I needed to knock Ahsoka out of the battlefield for a bit, hence the sniper attack. I think it's time I showed how action works when there **_**isn't**_** a Jedi/Commando hanging around and curbstomping every unit… I'm no doctor, but I'd figure that getting shot hard enough in the shoulder that there's a hole straight through, especially if you factor in miniature Tiberium radiation to trigger a miniature catalyst missile warhead, it'd hurt like **_**hell**_**. Sedating her was a mercy for the medics when I think about it. And no, I am no goddamn biologist, I have no clue if the injuries like I described do what they do.**

**The Nod temple in Cairo was blown generally to hell by a Nod nuke being detonated, **_**I know**_**. The levels that are used are safe to be chalked up on rebuilt and that Kane is still restoring it for reasons to be disclosed.**

**On the rabid Project ReGenesis Initiates and Acolytes, this is actually me lampshading the ones in **_**Renegade**_**. It disturbed me that the Tomb of Abel, an at the very least important artifact to Nod… was left in a pit with a bunch of rabid mutants… yeah, way to keep it secure, Nod. Still, a little zombie clean up is always a good tale; especially since it won't be a Jedi just lightsabering the lot of them.**

**Colonel James is a Commander and eventually a higher rank for this fanfic, to make her eventual command over Coric and/or Warren during the events of C&C 4 when written out in this fanfic fit properly, as well as authority wise. (How else is she to get enough forces to lay siege to Kane's Tower? No mere colonel would be given that many guys and dozens of **_**KODIAKS **_**in comparison to a commander who only gets five at most for his battles.)**


	12. Chapter 12: Desert Eagle

_"GDI soldiers have always relied on courage, teamwork, training, and damn superior equipment to win their battles; in that order, that's what GDI as a whole is made of. GDI may be slow to start at times, but when it's rolling, it can be hard to stop. Nod, and by extension, ECG, deploy their forces in an interesting mix of third-world militia armed with whatever they can get, including, quite often, stolen GDI equipment if they were lucky, while also supporting elite forces. Think of Nod as wielding both a club and a dagger; the club is what you're going to see, especially early because it takes little to no skill to use and is ready to go near-instantly, but the dagger strikes the real kill as you're busy facing off with the club. What's thrown a spanner in warfare now is the fact that both GDI and the various Nod factions are now beginning to merge their tactical doctrine; Nod is adopting universally better standards and armor while GDI is adopting more hit-and-run to its arsenal. Now, that's not to say it's a universal rule of thumb, both sides are still retaining what made them, well, them, but it's equalizing a lot... mostly in favor of Nod, I hate to say. This is a _very_ broad statement, but still, it gets the idea across, William. GDI has to be able to keep the military edge on Nod or we'll fall behind. We shoulder over three quarters of the TCN work. Why? Because Nod is either doing special missions for 'preparing other sites', or they're leaving because they find fault in Kane's logic of making Tiberium turn the world to _fricken **Hell**_ then offering his arch-enemy the cure to it. Not saying I'm not glad that Kane's being abandoned by those he deceives, but damn Will, it's going to set up a war that's bloody for war's standards if things go down the silo as we get more than regular potshots with ECG. And mark my words, they will get worse."_

- Nick Seymour "Havoc" Parker, Retired GDI Colonel/Commando, Conservative Pundit, Supporter of the 'Tiberium-Cthulhu [Scrin] Will Return' theory, Commando of the Week (Most recently 2/10/67), Badass of the Week (First on 6/13/99), highly-decorated veteran of the First, and Second Tiberium Wars, veteran of the Third, and the single-handed killer of the _Rhode Island Redeemer_ during the Rhode Island Redeemer incident of 2057; on the W3N _Military Matters_ talk show.

_"Brothers, Sisters, we live in difficult times; from all around, we are pulled away from our brothers and sisters by those who are unable to comprehend change, those whose loyalty was as thin as their blood. Gideon's assault squads move through your villages and neighborhoods, killing your friends and countrymen; are you going to sit there and allow his fickle band of bandits to do such? The Brotherhood's arms are always open to those who truthfully are willing to join, willing to risk their lives for their fellow man and woman, those willing to fight for a future. Those who are loyal but not willing to fight, do not despair, as there are many duties that must be done away from battle; there are suffering people who need our aid, sick who must be tended to. The Brotherhood offers any willing to help their fellow men and women, be it on the field or away. [Pause/Applause] Ascension is real; this is the penultimate time; it is time to chose your path. We offer Brotherhood, unity, and, when the heretics who claim to be faithful fall and the Tiberium Control Network Conflict laid to rest, when the Brotherhood has indeed Ascended, there will be _peace_, at long last, after almost a hundred years of war, there will finally be peace."_

- Kane giving a live public speech, shortly before leaving for the _GST Methuselah_ and the ECG base in China that was captured by GDI forces.

**Chapter 12: Desert Eagle**

**February 6th, 1067**

**Captured ECG Base**

**Northern China**

**Red Zone**

Coric shook his head as he took another bite out of the ration bar; technically a bread stick stuffed with various nutrients and given the faintest drop of a seasoning to try and (failing to) offset the bad taste. _Better then tack though..._ he thought, musing that he should probably count his blessings in comparison to the older armies of human history.

In the last two days, nothing had happened, and it was beginning to worry him. Warren was sitting nearby, working on his EVA unit.

"What're you working on, Warren?" he finally asked.

"Reading a letter from my family." he answered, distracted, "Just got it."

Coric nodded, "I never asked; how's your mother doing? Is she better?" He referred to Mrs. Parker's catch of _Tiberius Necrosis_, an extremely rare disease that threatened to crystallize certain body parts if left untreated. The symptoms were easy to spot early, and could be cured, but it left the person coughing for weeks and vomiting every eight or so hours for days even before they were noticeably threatened. GDI had, after gaining medical knowledge from the Brotherhood, had been able to cure hundreds of mystery cases quickly. Oddly, only certain people caught it, and Forgotten scientists even offered the theory it was a slower, milder mutation that exponentially gets worse if the body is unable to adapt.

"A lot better now that the meds are kicking in; stopped vomiting and it looks like she'll have a full recovery. Thanks for asking."

"What about Lilly? I haven't heard anything from her."

"Nothing... oh, hold on; she put a PS for you. I'll copy-paste and send it to your EVA."

"Thanks." Coric waited a moment as Warren sent it over, then read the add-on letter;

_"Coric,_

_I haven't heard from you ever since you went on Maneuvers, but I hope you're alright. Still thinking about you... ..._ the letter seemed to have a pause to it, as additional periods seemed to be left, as if the button was leaned on by accident, _Hell, Coric; I'll jump at it; I'm worried sick sometimes; I mean, you're in the worst conflict we've ever seen and you're always in the middle of it. I can't get sleep sometimes thinking of what could happen to you out there. Please; stay safe; I love you._ The letter ended, but Coric knew what was going on; Lilly was, despite her familial relation to Havoc, was worried sick about warfare, even as she studied cybernetics and other advanced (and often bloody-gross) sciences under Doctor Pascal.

"Out of curiosity," Coric asked, "Is there anything else in the letter you think I should be aware of?"

"Actually, yes," Warren said, "She mentioned she's taking up a job in Pascal Labs as a lab assistant until she's more experienced. Doc Pascal evidently offered it to her immediately after she graduated."

"She'll do well, I think. Well, if I ever need to get something replaced, at least I know who I can ask."

Warren chuckled, "I'd raise a glass to that, but if something happened to you, she'd probably leave me a broken wreck for letting it happen."

Rolling his eyes, Coric just said, "Come on, she's your sister."

"I know. I'm allowed to rib her. Or do you forget who we have for an uncle?"

"I highly doubt Havoc taught her how to…"

He was interrupted by the door to the small room they were sitting in opening, and Captain Alex McCarthy walked in. Dropping his food back onto the tray as he snapped to attention, Coric said, "Captain McCarthy, _sir!_"

"At ease." McCarthy answered, nodding to the two, "Kane is going to be on site shortly; I want everything readied for anything; there's no telling what ECG has planned."

"Yes sir." Warren said, and McCarthy left.

"Kane, huh?" Coric asked. "Wonder what that bastard's up to..."

"Five creds says he's here for the view," Warren answered sarcastically.

"You're on."

XXXX

**Captured ECG Base**

**Northern China**

**Landing Zone**

**Red Zone**

Kane walked off the transport, inhaling as the Tiberium in the air came to his nostrils. He did not need to wear any protection; he was immune to Tiberium's radioactive effects. Seeing a familiar face waiting for him, suited up in the advanced Commando armor that the Taskforce employed before Zone units became the standard, Kane walked towards the man. The Plexiglas visor cleared; and he saw Ajay's face. _It has been a long time indeed,_ he thought. As he passed the former Nod agent, he gave a curt nod, "Agent. It is good to see you well."

The kindness took Ajay aback, but he quickly recovered, "'Sir'". It wasn't hard for Kane to find the irony hidden in the words; he may have been addressing correctly due to Kane's position on the Alliance council, but he put a certain bite to it, to remind Kane that he was no longer a Nod fanatic. _And that is who he is. His loyalty to his brothers outweighed his faith in the Brotherhood._ He had, for a while, entertained the idea of having Ajay shot before he approached GDI, but decided against it as he had enough to worry about. That, and he knew Ahsoka would need a competent officer coordinating the Firestorm Taskforce when the time came for her to fulfill her part of his plans.

"Alright Kane," said a gruff voice; McCarthy was coming up, flanked by several Zone infantry; a Trooper, whom Kane recognized as Coric, and on the other side was a Zone Defender from the 222nd infantry, "The shard is in the ConYard. Let's get this over with." Kane could hear the disgust in the Captain's voice, but he had to admire that, unlike most GDI commandos, he was a soldier who acknowledged protocol even if he didn't like it and was able to keep it clean despite hatred.

Following the group into the remains of the ECG construction yard, Kane had to admit that Gideon had far surpassed all of his expectations. _He grows to become a dangerous menace,_ Kane remarked to himself, _if he keeps this up, he will become a threat that must be removed._ He walked down the passage, noting scorch marks of GDI's accelerated rounds lining the tunnel at certain spots. As they arrived, upon seeing the shard, Kane nodded. He walked towards it and put a hand on it; he felt the surge of energy but effortlessly redirected it out of his feet and harmlessly into the earth itself, letting it fade into the ground. He lifted the shard from above, and nodded, gently pushing the now-floating shard forth.

But as he pushed it, he felt resistance... it did not like him, and he understood full well why. _Am I not my brother's keeper?_ he thought, musing on the reason it would hate him.

XXX

Coric walked behind Kane, wondering how GDI would ever be able to bring Kane in for justice; it wouldn't be as simple as walking into his Manchester office and holding him at gunpoint, he'd have dozens of guards and probably would be out of reach when GDI no longer had to work with him…

Then Ajay glanced at his EVA unit, and swore; "Sir! Enemy units incoming on radar!"

McCarthy nodded, "Granger, Webber, get your platoons up there, I'll cover Kane and get the shard out then get the cavalry down here."

"On it!" Coric said, sprinting out with Webber behind him.

Reaching the gate of the base, Spartan tanks in turret form were trading volleys with enemy Scorpion tanks as infantry opened fire on each other from cover. Firestorm Anti-Aircraft batteries opened fire as Venom craft sped by, strafing GDI's infantry, but the Zone Armor held against the barrage of bullets, which pockmarked the ground almost harmlessly and dented armor. The enemy Venom fell like flies under the anti-aircraft barrage, taking several hits before being swatted. As he reached the edge of the base, he nodded to Bert; rose and fired, the shot speeding down and blasting an ECG light infantryman dead while the rapid _clink_ of Bert's Gatling-blaster went off faster than he could hear, sounding like a buzz saw.

He fired again, hitting a Scorpion Tank as it fired, wincing as the shell exploded nearby, sending a Zone Defender to the skies... and she landed behind the battle with a sickening crunch, like a rag doll. _Damn it, there goes Sergeant Webber..._

Coric rolled away from a cannon round as much as the Zone Armor allowed him, coming up next to Warren.

"Some day we're having, huh?" Warren asked, reloading.

"Tell me about it," Coric answered. _This is going well..._ he rose up and pulled the trigger, sending a rail gun round into an enemy tank, blasting a nasty dent into it. Ducking down as the rail gun cycled, he pumped the next round and rose again, plugging an enemy as Warren laid down suppressive fire with his Gatling-blaster. _Damn glad we have those,_ he thought as he saw a squad of enemy infantry advance, only to be shredded by the platoon's Enforcers spraying rounds in thick volume, the enemy armor ripped to shreds. The first hit or two was taken, but the second and beyond hits were the finisher to punch through the armor.

"_Sergeant Granger, stand by for air strike."_

"Roger that Blade. Anything threatening you guys outside of rounds?"

"_No Ion storms yet. Standby..."_

He heard the distinct whine of Orca engines and looked up; six Orcas and six Hurricanes flew by, carpeting the ECG advance units with rockets and Gatling-gun rounds. Smiling, Coric rose up and fired, hitting a distracted Scorpion tank and finally knocking it's turret off, the dented thing exploding as his rail gun round finally pierced its ammunition store.

_"Aooooh!"_ echoed one of the Spartan tanks, engaging one of the automatic taunts the engineers building them enjoyed slipping into the programming, before the tank suddenly exploded as it's ammunition was hit by an explosive round from a Scorpion Tank.

"Coric, get to the left side, I'll cover you," Warren said, rising and opening fire. Coric sprinted over under the covering barrage.

XXXX

Warren reloaded, swearing as his armor took several hits from laser rounds; he collapsed on his left leg, ducking behind cover as his EVA unit analyzed the damage... _Not good;_ he thought as the diagnostic came up, _Fully pierced leg joint, that's going to be hell._ His knee was hurting, but most of the damage was to the suit. Rising on his right foot and feeding a quick few shots before ducking back down, he tried to figure out the best way to fix it before it became a liability...

He had nothing.

XXX

Blade looked down as his Orca reloaded; "Hound Squadron, form up for another run, we need to hit the enemy. Hover over and feed them magazines until they start shooting back; keep it evasive and suppress the bastards. Break off into wing pairs until ordered otherwise."

_"On your tail, sir."_ Hardcore responded, forming up behind him in his Hurricane. Blade turned his Orca, loosing rockets down on the enemy tanks and blasting them apart, while using the Orca's secondary chain gun, weak compared to the Hurricane, to keep pressure up. Several rounds hit the underside of his Orca; the enemy light infantry were turning their laser rifles against him, but their sporadic and weak hits were negligible against his armor... for now. Launching rockets as soon as they were ready and he had a lock, he kept striking the enemy ground units, the enemy unable to respond properly, as it seemed ECG had only sent tanks and laser rifle armed infantry... The enemy soldiers were suppressed by the barrage, keeping them from advancing on the vulnerable 501st and 222nd… and the bullets and rail gun rounds launched by the GDI infantry made the assault proverbial and somewhat literal suicide, even with the ECG infantry using cover relatively effectively for the tight quarters.

"_Radar locks, break, break!"_ Hardcore shouted, and Blade caught a rocket to the side, his Orca shaking as the enemy rocket's concussive force knocking him into his chair and send his Orca in a single corkscrew before he regained control. _Damn it, can't take too many of those!_

"Find those Rocket troopers!" Blade ordered.

_"Hound Seven here; I located them, rear of the enemy formation."_

"Execute _Solomon's Swerve_."

"_Forming up, sir."_

The aircraft formed into three wings of four, and the squadron adopting a triangle formation formed with three squares. Flying towards the enemy rocket soldiers, where a few more Scorpion tanks were rolling up to join, they suddenly broke off into three distinct directions; then split into wing pairs. The front wing pair dived at the enemy, three of each craft type bombarding the enemy position with accelerated Gatling rounds and rockets, while the other six sped over, then cut the VTOL engines, turning as if they were skidding cars. They then near-simultaneously reignited the engines to come in from the column's rear at attack speed. The frontal craft pulled up sharply as the rear craft blazed death upon the enemy. They then all pulled back to the base, the maneuver completed, and the enemy column up to its knees in blood and bedlam, suppressed and forced to regroup. Blade glanced to the base on his return flyby as the GDI shuttle took off.

XXX

Corporal Bert Alistair of the 501st Infantry reloaded, and sent a grenade over from his under-slung grenade launcher, blasting a pair of ECG soldiers away. _Enjoy hell, bastards,_ he thought as he opened fire with his Gatling-blaster, ripping another soldier open, hitting the armor repeatedly and causing her to drop like a Barbie doll. He ducked to the left, behind the remains of the old ECG bunker as an enemy tank turned attention towards him, averting his eyes as the shells exploded, sending shrapnel into the air, and would have ripped him like cheddar cheese if not for this armor.

Finishing with his reload and as the enemy tank fire quieted, he stood out and let a quick burst fly before ducking back, nearly taking a tank hit to the chest in the process, the shell flying by where he had been a mere second before and sending large clods of dirt like shrapnel, which hit his chest _hard_. _That was too close…_

XXXX

**GST **_**Enoch**_

**Earth Orbit**

Captain Tenzai cursed as he watched the ECG units advancing on the 501st and 222nd... _Those are my men damn it; I need to help them somehow._

"What's the status on the package, and when can we get evac down there?" he demanded.

"Sir, the package is being moved to the _Methuselah _as we speak." answered one of the sensor officers, "Soon as it's unloaded, it'll go pick them up; it has room to carry both and the MCV as long as they leave the Spartans behind."

"So be it. Get me Sergeant Granger." Tenzai ordered as an idea hit him, "I need to get his side." _And see if he noticed anything that I can't with this EVA uplink..._

XXXX

**Former ECG Base**

**Northern China**

**Red Zone**

Coric swore as his EVA unit beeped; answering, he said, "Kinda busy here, sir; what'd ya need?"

_"Sergeant, can your forces fall back to the ConYard for evacuation?"_

"Not without some help; Blade's laying down the fire but if we pull off, I don't think our base defenses will hold long enough to get onto a shuttle safely from the perimet-. Hold on," he rose and shot an ECG soldier, hitting him in the leg as the shot went wide and blew the leg off, obliterating the thigh and sending the shin and foot into another ECG soldier's face, knocking him back for a moment and exposing him to a burst of accelerated bullets from Bert. Ducking down to cycle his next round, Coric continued, "An Ion Cannon strike would be brilliant if the General lets you, sir, but otherwise, we'll have to do something fancy." He rose, taking a shot, but ducked back to cover as several blaster bolts nearly hit his faceplate, two hitting the side and knocking him to the right. "Not sure about the 222nd, Sergeant Webber took a tank shell to the gut, but last I saw they were holding the tunnel entrance." He winced as he saw the distinct blue bursts of Third Tiberium War era rail guns hit the cliff side, dropping rocks onto a dead Zone Trooper…

"Ah, sir?" Coric added, "We have an ECG Mammoth rolling in…"

_"Damn it... Understood. Withdraw to the ConYard at your discretion, and keep all units away from the entrance canyon, I'm going to push to get some A-SAT support. Evac is coming, but we have to send the shuttle back, no clue on ETA."_

"Yes sir, understood sir." He switched to the platoon's channel, "Alistair! Take your squad and Vikki's and get back to the ConYard, we're doing a steady evac."

"Got it! Squad three, pull back, I repeat, pull back." Bert responded, pulling out. Coric reloaded and took another shot, ducking as the rail gun cooled and pumped, cycling to the new round. He missed, and took aim.

Aiming for an incoming rocket-armed soldier, he took the shot, the rail gun round accelerating across the lines of firing, missing the target but hitting another ECG infantryman. _Well, least we can keep the fire flying..._ he thought, pumping and taking another shot, this time hitting the target, causing him to collapse with a good chunk of his torso blown away.

_"This is squad three, we're at the pull-out zone!"_ Bert reported.

"Understood, Parker, get your squad back."

"_Negative, you go; my Enforcers can cover_." Warren responded.

"Corporal..." Coric put an edge to his voice.

"_We can keep those infantry suppressed, your Zone Troopers can't."_

_Damn, he's right._ "Alright, fine. Squad one, pull back." He didn't have a squad four; the survivors from that one had been cycled to the other two to cover up the losses taken during the attack and the battle in Pennsylvania and taking this damned base. He trotted back, moving backwards and taking shots until he was out of effective range.

XXX

Ajay rushed into the ConYard; it was being prepared to unpack.

"Lieutenant!" shouted the ConYard's chief officer, "We're packing it up ASAP."

"I'll help," Ajay responded, quickly moving to an open console, entering his access code, overriding the standard control, and began speeding up the decommissioning process to ensure the technology wouldn't fall into Gideon's hands...

XXX

Warren swore as his Gatling blaster stopped working; he glanced at it: It was disabled from several laser hits. _Damn it!_ he thought, then switched to his radio, "This is Squad Two, we're ready for evac."

_"Sergeant Granger here; Squad two, get back here ASAP, we'll lay down covering fire."_ he heard Coric respond.

"Got it! Squad two, double time!"

They broke off, leaving the last Spartan tank to face the attacks alone. The drone tank fought as hard as it could, but it was limited in its turreted form, and was destroyed, but it bought them time to get back to the ConYard. Sprinting back as enemy laser fire dinged behind them, leaving burn marks on the ground, they ran for their dear lives, but it was not a disorganized retreat, it was an organized sprint, honed in training in a time that seemed so long ago. But Warren fell behind as he had a limped run, another bolt singing his right leg. Grinding his teeth as he pushed on, he kept moving, despite his body screaming for him to stop. _Shut up, body,_ he thought savagely, _Can't worry about that now..._ One of the other Enforcers suddenly stopped, turning around and adding a burst from his Gatling-blaster, then helped Warren out.

"Thanks Private," Warren said as they moved.

"You're my CO, none needed." the private, Gary Morison, responded as they reached the ConYard, the other soldiers, both of the 501st and 22nd infantry, were setting up to hold until evacuation came...

XXX

Blade kicked his VTOL engines on, letting the Orca almost skid across the sky, firing a freshly loaded barrage of rockets down on the ECG soldiers, surprising them, before turning them off again and speeding out of the incoming enemy barrage of laser fire.

"Air Captain Blade to Air Command; we have men in need of evac down here; what's the delay?"

_"Air Captain Blade, this is Control. Evac is en route for the 501st and 222nd infantries."_

"Understood; requesting all available haste, ECG forces have organized and are preparing to swarm."

_"Copy. Air Control out."_

Blade shook his head, then took shots with his Orca's small chain gun, it was not its primary weapon, but it let him at least fire _something_ while his Orca cycled the next round of rockets. Yawing to the left as several rockets nearly blew an engine off, he strafed the offending Rocket infantry, causing them to collapse, shredded by eight millimeter round chain gun bursts, or blown apart by a rocket.

XXX

"**Ion Cannon Ready."** Coric heard his EVA unit report, and shouted, "Hell yeah!"

"**Ion Cannon Activated."**

Eight blue beams came down to the Earth at the canyon as ECG soldiers, realizing that they were about to face literal death from above, sprinted either back if they were in the rear, or forward. But even that did not save them as the blue beams of death circled, vaporizing any human flesh, armored or not, that made contact, causing tanks to be burned as their ablative armor failed to stop the full force of the Ion Cannon's powerful tracing lasers, one tank in Coric's view losing propulsion and getting stuck, then destroyed as the other beams hit it in their circular dance of deathly azure death…

The beams met in the middle, where the now deep fried ECG Mammoth Tank sat, burning and exploding as the pulses of ionized energy hit it… the rail guns on the tank went flying into the canyon wall with sudden force, the treads exploding every-which-way.

Then with a near earth-shattering _kaboom_, a blue pulse sped down the tight, united beams, rushing down like water in old videos of Niagara Falls, striking like a snake, and raining down justice that could only be described as divine intervention, the Ion Cannon strike hit, blowing apart the ECG soldiers still alive, trying to get past, but it was for naught, the close quarters of the canyon amplified the kinetic force of the explosion, slamming them into cliff walls and outright disintegrating metal, flesh, ceramics, everything in the blast. The canyon wall collapsed as avalanches of rocks fell, crushing anyone unfortunate enough to survive the initial blast under tons of rubble.

"_Wooo hooo_!" shouted Bert from his position, "_That's what I call support!"_

"We still have infantry to handle; they're rushing through the tunnel network, and they still have a few tanks on the inside." Coric reminded them as he took another shot, hoping it'd hit the nearly out-of-range target; it missed, harmlessly slamming into the ground, and the remaining enemy units were closing. Ducking as several blaster rounds nearly hit him, he checked the power left on the core he was using, _Damn, almost empty._ He rose and fired, then switched the now-depleted Tiberium core out and switched in another one, pumping the rail gun to cycle the next round to load, and fired, missing as he tried to hit an ECG infantryman moving up boldly.

"Where's the damn evac?" asked Warren, next to him and using an injured Zone Trooper's rail gun, asked. Although his leg was injured, he could still fight from cover.

"Coming," Coric answered, "or this is going to be _ugly_."

Taking another shot and pumping the rail gun to cycle its next round, they put suppressive fire up to keep ECG away. The base was de-assembled and the ConYard was ready to pack up into an MCV and get out of there... all they needed was the rescue from GDI's space-capable transports...

The two surviving Scorpions rolled up, only to be blasted by rail gun rounds and rockets, while infantry, trying to advance up using craters as cover, were hit by the Zone Enforcers liberal ammunition spread, hitting their armor, often incapacitating them, and the spray sometimes just ripping through. But many rounds were required due to the typical lack of accuracy using the Gatling-blasters used by GDI's Zone Enforcers, despite efficient targeting protocols installed into their suits to help them aim.

"Running low on Enforcer rounds," Warren said gesturing to the other Enforcers, "Bert's empty and we need the power cells recharged as well!"

"Damn it!" Coric swore, "Tell the Enforcers to use their rounds carefully, we can't feed them spreads if we're low." _Damn, we're actually low on ammo..._ he thought as he took another shot, punching a hole into an enemy soldier with a blaster rifle as he tried to move up, disarming him literally.

_"Shuttle Four-One coming down. Stand by, I repeat, stand by!"_

The fear of low ammo left instantly and Coric shouted in triumph, taking an enemy soldier's head off with a well-placed (and _**extremely**_ lucky) shot. From above, the shuttle descended, while Hound Squadron wreaked havoc on the ECG soldiers capable of responding to the shuttle. As the shuttle landed, the door opened...

And either standing or on a knee, and all aiming at the ECG soldiers with rail carbines, a sniper rifle in one man's case, and rocket launchers in others, were the Zone Rangers from the Firestorm Taskforce, as well as several of GDI's on-ship Marines.

XX

"Alright boys, you've done enough, ride's open!" McCarthy said into the radio, then took the shot with his sniper rifle, blasting an ECG soldier's groin with a cruelly placed shot, the soldier bending over where there was once testosterone, but now only a hole that included the man's hips and lower digestive tract through sheer kinetic force of the accelerated round. "Big damn heroes are here."

_"Nice timing, sir."_ he heard Sergeant Granger respond,_ "501st, pull out the injured out first, the rest of you, lay down cover fire at your discretion. 222nd, pull out at your discretion."_

McCarthy picked off another ECG infantryman, then another as the Zone Rangers and GDI Marines laid down cover fire, forcing ECG to take cover as the blue tracer-like rounds sped over, the blue acceleration of their metal bullets striking like death's icy grasp, burning rockets speeding out towards the enemy tanks as the two Anti-Tank Marines launched their rocket launchers rockets... then McCarthy saw the glint of a scope in the distance; aiming at it and taking the shot, the ionized rail sniper round speeding across and hitting something just to the right and under where he saw the glint. He saw the glint again, but this time it appeared at an odd angle; zooming in on his scope, he smiled as he saw the sniper he shot bending over in her death throes, her right breast literally blown out of her body, leaving a giant hole with small threads of flesh remaining where it once was, hanging lose, the remaining gore blown behind her like a shotgun's conical burst. And all this had happened before she had even gotten a shot at a GDI soldier. _Damn I wanna marry these ionized rail gun rounds..._ McCarthy thought as he shifted his aim away as GDI soldiers sped onto the shuttle.

_"222nd, wounded are clear and we're pulling out;_" said the 222nd's temporary leader, and his infantry pulled back onto the shuttle. McCarthy took several more shots, each one hitting an ECG soldier and killing him or her; McCarthy didn't bother checking, he took a shot, cycled to the next round as he shifted his aim, pulled the trigger, and ended another life gone wrong. _Joining ECG... bad lifestyle choice. Stay in school, don't be a fanatic,_ he thought with some morbid amusement as he shot a ECG flamethrower wielding soldier in the chest, the round ripping through the body armor and the soldier's heart, then into his flamethrower's fuel tanks and causing them to explode violently, knocking the two light infantry next to him down, their armor on fire, the soldiers crawling on the ground in pain as they burned to a screaming hot death.

Ajay and the ConYard team then ran on, and McCarthy knew what they were doing. As Ajay ran past, the last in line, a laser hit his back, knocking him forward as it deflected off of his loosely worn old commando armor, dissipating.

"Close the hatch!" McCarthy ordered, now simply taking shots with his sniper rifle for suppressive effect, the flash of the round enough to send enemy soldiers diving for cover; _Boom, _reload_, boom_, reload... the door shut, and he heard the shuttle lift off partially and move, then heard and felt the super magnetic clamps, as well as other such tethers, clamp onto the MCV.

_"We're getting clear now,"_ said the pilot, _"Hound Squadron, cover us please!"_

"_Hound Squadron Lead here; forming up to cover. No ECG air in detection, but we need to get onto drop pods for relaunch back to the GST."_

_"Copy that, get us to space and we'll send some down."_

_"I'll hold you to that, flight officer."_

XXXX

**One Hour Later**

**Bridge of the GST **_**Enoch**_

**Earth Orbit**

Coric, in a more casual dress at request of the General (old surplus Third Tiberium War era commando armor often used by GDI's marine and Peacekeeper forces, sans more uncomfortable armor pieces), walked onto the bridge and saluted the man in front of him, "Captain Tenzai, sir." he said.

"At ease, Sergeant." Tenzai responded, sighing. "I just received the final count. Sixteen of the 222nd dead, and 8 of the 501st." He shook his head, "Our whole Spartan complement was also destroyed."

"Sir, permission to speak freely." Coric asked, holding his hands behind his straight back.

"Granted."

"We lost a lot, sir, but considering our objective... we won well within the acceptable cost. It's still a tragedy, sir, but we managed to succeed within reasonable limits."

Nodding, Tenzai gestured for him to follow, "Perhaps, Sergeant, but it's never easy. I've received the requests from your men and the 222nd for leave at the next available opportunity, to give GDI time to cycle in new recruits."

"Yes sir."

"For now, I have to deny them permission. But I'll look for a chance to do so." He inhaled, "Unfortunately, the 222nd's whole command was lost, all three corporals, Lance Alvers, Steven Pryde, Louis Lafayette, and Sergeant Ashley Webber." Coming to a computer screen on the side, he entered an authorization code and information on the two units appeared, "I want you to assume temporary command of the survivors of the 222nd until an officer suitable arrives. This is temporary, and I'm hoping it'll only be until I can find a member already inside who can lead. But I want them to at least be able to count on someone to lead them through."

Coric nodded gravely, understanding the responsibility; the two units easily could be merged into one unit as both were roughly the same strength, a bit above halfway, but Tenzai needed to maintain both for now, as he was authorized to lead four platoons of infantry, a single tank squadron, and any attached air units. _And the training centers haven't churned out the next group of troops,_ Coric theorized, _so he's stuck with what he has._

"I understand, sir. I'll speak with the platoon's survivors and do what I can."

Tenzai nodded, "Good, I was hoping you'd say that."

"General on deck!" shouted one of the marines on guard duty at the door. Coric snapped straight and turned as General Nagama walked in and stepped onto the bridge's command chair, "At ease." he said. "Continue your duties." With that, he turned the map on and began to study, bringing up images of previous engagements, observing them as if looking for ECG's tactics, trying to understand.

XXXX

**Fifteen Minutes Later**

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

"Damn it," Mitchell said as he watched the GST's head doctor binding Ahsoka's wounds, "That makes one of our sniper rifles look like a pop gun."

"It was one of ours, sir," Ajay said, holding out a datapad for him, the blaster wound he suffered having been bandaged, "They said the round was a modified GLS-70 _Akashi_; the Third Tiberium War era model."

"Do you know how Gideon got them?" Mitchell said as he took it and looked it over, wondering how an _Akashi_ could do that much damage; especially considering that Ahsoka was using body armor more advanced than that of the Third Tiberium War when she took that round...

"No sir, but I'm assuming they found an old GDI base that still had something left. After 2056..."

"I remember," Mitchell said, blinking as he remembered the trying times of 56 had been; mutant uprisings left and right as the Forgotten splintered from stress, renegades fighting for control and carving out nation states as Tiberium just continued to get worse and worse... he shook the memories a way with a single shake of his head, "I'm just surprised it took this long for them to find it. What countermeasures do we have?"

"Don't get shot." Ajay said solemnly, "But they say the risk is only for our light Zone armored units; engineers, medics, Rangers. The normal soldiers should be able to take a hit from the sniper rifle and be able to survive, they have tougher armor."

"This can't be a coincidence. I've lived fighting Nod for too long to believe in coincidences. Someone planned that. _Akashi_ sniper rifles were, while capable of knocking out old style Zone units and even Enlightened when they were the most dangerous things out there one on one, are not capable of causing that kind of chain reaction. Hell, isn't our old Zone armor a bit under the same rating as our current light armor?"

"Yes sir. I also checked the readings," Ajay continued, taking back the datapad, "The reaction awoke a funny feeling. If what I've deduced is correct, it's a miniaturized Catalyst Missile warhead or based off of that technology. Nod technology that I'm sure Kane handed out to a lot of officers in the waning days of the Third, so no surprise Gideon could find it. Still, fitting even a miniaturized version would weaken sniper round casing too much... I doubt they're issued normal rounds and then anti-Tiberium rounds, that'd be too much of a hassle. I never saw details, sir, but the warheads broke relatively easily in comparison to most."

"Maybe there's Tiberium. In the sniper rounds, Liquid T maybe, that'd be easy to slather onto a target upon impact, then _boom_ the catalyst, and the rounds themselves would only have to be tough enough to get to the target and hit through armor; even then it wouldn't need to because of the chain reaction."

Ajay just shook his head, "I'm getting worried; Gideon's forces are becoming more competent by the second. Just a week ago they were on already known tech salvaged from the old days... why didn't they hit us with what we're seeing now at Hammerfest? They probably could have won the battle and gotten the Tacitus out if even half of that force was using this new stuff ECG's pulling out."

"I don't think it was ready." Mitchell answered, "But it is throwing our balance. We can't assume anything about ECG until we find out what Gideon has for a proper arsenal."

The door opened, and Mitchell turned; Riggs entered. "General; Lieutenant."

"Sir." Ajay said, saluting.

"How is she?" Riggs asked.

"The docs are unsure; she's been sedated and the wound isn't going to spread, but she lost a lot of blood and they're worried her arm will be permanently affected by the specialized rounds used. A chain reaction to keep it from healing and to ensure the injuries are much more serious, according to them." Mitchell explained, shaking his head, "I don't think we can count on her for the rest of the operation until we're sure she's fully healed."

Riggs nodded gravely, "If she wakes up, give her my condolences."

"Of course," Mitchell answered, narrowing his eyebrows, _Hell, he may be Rios' pawn, but he fought with us in the Second and Third Tiberium Wars. I can't forget that._ With a nod, Riggs left to attend to other business he had to attend to as head of GDI's military forces.

XXXX

**GST Enoch**

**Earth Orbit**

Blade sipped his drink, looking at the rest of his squadron in the corner; no losses but all their aircraft were being repaired. He had excused himself, wanting to mull over recent events alone with the 501st's officers; Warren was next to him, sitting with a frothy mug of beer, thinking. Bert was just sitting with his arms crossed, his chest bandaged from taking a few shrapnel hits that left large bruises on his ribs, even if it didn't penetrate his armor (which was now in the shop).

"I'm just amazed that we got out in time," Warren finally said, glancing at the bandages on his leg, "Gideon hit us hard and fast, a lot sooner than we figured."

"Agreed," Blade answered, "But at least it didn't happen in an Ion Storm. That would of made it… interesting."

"Too interesting, if you ask me. And not for us." Bert chimed in.

"Yeah. We always seem to wind up in Ion Storms, so it was nice not to have to handle it for once. I hate being grounded."

"So; what do you know about the Commander?" Warren asked.

"The Taskforce one?" Blade questioned.

"Yup."

_Not much,_ Blade thought to himself, curious on the question, "The usual; she's a walking badass, capable of taking on an entire battalion of cyborgs and coming out on top; that incident where she not only broke herself, but a bunch of people from a Supermax down in Sparta…"

"I was there," Warren cut in, "They weren't lying about Sparta, she really did do what they say she did."

"Wait, she actually beat the crap out of a dozen guards single handedly and led a full-blown prison riot?"

"Had some help from the Sarge's mother, since she was augmented with cybernetics."

"Ah; I heard about that."

"Yeah. But do you know anything besides the usual?"

"No. Why you asking?" Blade was suspicious, "She _is_ what, fifty years old plus at this point? Still moving around as if she's our age."

"There's something off about her, I don't know what it is…"

"Really?" Bert finally asked, "Warren, we were stuck with her for zone training. Too soft."

"Only because we were top of the class; she nearly broke Haley's spine; literally and figuratively, during that training mission at _Robin Hood_."

"Probably should of, or she'd still be with us."

"Alright, that's just out of line," Warren retorted hotly, "She took a tank shell to the face after getting her suit immobilized; nothing can prepare you for that."

Bert just sighed, "Alright, maybe you're right on that account, but really; there _is_ something wrong with her, and not just 'cause she's a mutie. Those things on her head? Unusual skin tone? Yeah, I'm amazed that someone hasn't said "Hey wait, _space alien_" and grabbed a pistol."

"If she _is_ one," Blade said with a sly smile, "Then there's irony with her position. They say the Taskforce is an anti-extraterrestrial division, mostly for the Scrin but also for any… weird stuff that shows up. Beyond Tiberium weird, that is."

"Heh," Warren commented, rubbing his fingers against the small beard he had (having not shaved and all since they launched), "Well; thanks. I'm just curious. I have a bad feeling. She isn't immortal like Kane though, considering the sniper hit."

"Only a good sign," Bert said, "Or I'd be worried about having _two_ crazy immortals to worry about."

Despite himself, Blade laughed, as did Warren; not because of the insult, but because it was so _accurate_; the last thing Earth needed was another Kane-like being to be around.

XXXX

**GST **_**Tzadik**_

**Earth Orbit**

Commander Louise James sat at her desk, "EVA, privacy mode." She ordered.

"**Shutting down, ma'am."** EVA said, locking the door, closing the blinds, and initiating the sound-proof systems, as well as isolating her EVA unit from anything not directly authorized by herself or a superior officer. She punched in a code…

"_Commander_," said Jacob, inclining his head politely, "_I have some intelligence that you may wish to investigate. Kane is developing something in the Cairo temple of Nod… where he 'killed' Abel. Something deep inside has awoken; I suspect that a former 'ally' of Kane's has… reawaken._"

"Who?" she asked, "And can he help us?"

"_I'm not sure; but he would be a valuable ally against Kane, as he is like him and I, but he did not lose his way as Kane did._"

She frowned; a _third_ semi-immortal running around? She was wary enough with Jacob for her to be able to stomach the thought of a third; _Why Earth, of all places?_ She wondered, _There's a huge galaxy, and all these big-shot immortals are hanging around Earth? At least this Jacob doesn't play himself a prophet._

"What do you want me to do?"

"_GDI will be sending a team in to clear it out; I believe you can authorize support for that mission. Do you have someone you can trust?_"

"Yes; but I will want to see some proof before I send him and his team in… and this is the Firestorm Taskforce we're talking about;"

"_And their leader was recently shot by an ECG sniper. She won't be able to interfere, which means now is the time to slip an agent in. I would like to attach one of my men to the team you'll send as 'token support'._"

She smiled, realizing what he was getting at. The 'token support' would seem to be unusual, but when one thought of it they'd realize she was putting in agents to see the Nod temple from the inside, and by helping 'clear' it, Jacob's agent could find out what Kane was after; and a further clue to his plan. And few would complain, as she was already vehemently anti-Nod; all that would be needed to keep anyone from giving her crap about sending the squad.

"I'll see what I can do."

"_Thank you, Commander. My agent will do what he can to ensure your whole team makes it back alive."_

She frowned, wondering what could be useful in a Nod temple at clearing it of anything… she then had an idea.

XXXX

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

McCarthy shook his head as he sipped the beer, looking around the GST's recreational room. The onboard 666th platoon was in, as was their assigned air support squadron, _Blazing Hell _squadron. Things were relatively quiet, but whispers had gotten out about Ahsoka's injuries; he overheard two soldiers in a corner talking;

"Damn, she's actually mortal. With what they say..."

"Everyone's mortal, damn it, but you always figured she'd get taken down by an army of Avatars or a really tricked out Redeemer, not just one goddamn sniper."

"Or maybe an army of Black Hand flametroopers with Purifying Flames; getting the jump on her, alone, in the middle of nowhere, all standing above her and with her in a random hole. And they'd _still_ lose most of that force."

"Black Hand? I mean, sure she'd be able to knock out a lotta them, but that's only if they don't get close; _no one_ survives a close ranged fight with the Black Hand unless they're a commando in freaking fireproof armor thicker than a Mammoth."

McCarthy just sighed; _Everyone's mortal; can't forget that. Kane may be the exception, but I'd love prove him wrong on that account._ He glanced up as Ajay walked in and sat down, a glass of beer in his hands.

"Lieutenant," McCarthy greeted, nodding.

"Cap'n."

"How's the Commander holding?" he whispered, to avoid drawing attention.

"Can't tell; docs say she's fine," Ajay answered, equally quiet, "Between you and me though... I dunno, this whole thing has been crazy. First the explosion in Hammerfest, now a sniper... I'm starting to think she needs to be wearing power armor just to walk into the bathroom... she's such a weirdness magnet."

"Heh, let's hope not. She doesn't use power armor."

"Starting to think she should."

"You're free to suggest that."

"Maybe, but I like my... 'dignity' intact. So, rumor said you picked off a sniper. With a br…. chest shot."

"How old are you again?"

"Fifty four or so. Need to start arranging a retirement plan, now that I think about it. Maybe a little house in the countryside, nice and quiet. With internet, of course. Can't forget that."

McCarthy just shook his head as the W3N news turned on.

"_Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,_" William Frank began, "_I'm William Frank; today we're going to be discussing recent engagements between GDI forces and the so-called Enlightened Cult of Gideon in the Russian Yellow Zone. Furthermore, rumors have come in of a disturbance under the Temple of Nod within Cairo, as Nod elite soldiers have been seen entering, but not as many are exiting. An insider says it has something to do with excavations into the ruins of the temple, reportedly destroyed during the First Tiberium War. Finally, there has been a recent protest against cybernetic experimentation by Idris Corporation in New York City, Doctor Pascal will be with us towards the end of the show from those labs."_

A hush fell over the room as the mention of cybernetics was finally realized.

"What do you think?" Ajay asked quietly.

"Probably the new artificial limbs, like what Conrad just got." McCarthy responded as the news reported the recent engagements, mentioning little of note to McCarthy, the reports were old news to him, GDI victories across the board but at an increased cost. "I'm glad for them, personally. Even if they can't or won't serve in the field again, at least they won't be stuck in wheelchairs."

"Long as they don't replace my left nut with cybernetics, I'm good." Ajay smirked.

"_Now, Havoc, I know you have a nephew out there. What're your feelings on it?"_ William asked, getting McCarthy's attention again.

"_I know he'll do fine, Will. Thanks for asking; but I really want to bring to attention these ECG infantry that are fighting our boys and girls out there; William, you have any images of them?"_ William nodded to someone off screen, and an image of an ECG Light Infantryman appeared; taken from one of the engagements in Africa between Nod and ECG, near Casabad.

"_I'm sure anyone who recalls their history classes remember the look of the armor; old Nod Tib War Two; but there's major differences; the armor plating is closer together, there's also ECG purple color markings where normally it'd be Nod red. The faceplate still has the traditional Nod red, however. Furthermore; William, turn the holo one-eighty… there; there's also a life-support system, presumably not unlike a space suit, which will be key to surviving a Red Zone environment when their Tib infusion isn't available, as well as giving them some fresh sources of air when things get tight. They're also equipped with laser-like rifles, but not true lasers, as seen on the images of them shooting, rifle is right here… some use rocket launchers, obviously, but these are generally for the grunts."_ Havoc explained, using a GDI silver laser pointer on the parts as he identified them, _"What does it mean? Well, first, it means Gideon has also forsaken the deployment of militants, so the age of GDI using over-the-top area of effect and lethal anti-riot tactics are generally over."_

"_Does it also mean that GDI will have its hands full?"_

_"GDI always has its hands full, Will. The thing is, if Gideon has any brains, and he obviously does when you consider how long he's lasted, he's training the soldiers. GDI is still superior in any one on one fight, as it always will be until cyborgs arrive, then it's a battle."_ Havoc leaned in, "_As long as Gideon doesn't mass-produce cyborgs to fight us, we can hold the line and push them back. The thing is, we can't ignore ECG as a threat, if we do, we'll set ourselves up for another _Philadelphia. _Hammerfest was too close a call; it was a wake up we needed, like it or not. It was far too bloody to be necessary, Will. We needed that wake up, we'd gotten too confident on our security, and now a lot of good men and women are lying dead, but even if we were ready, many of them still would of been lying six feet under._" Havoc sighed, _"It's war, Will. Too many 'what ifs'."_

"_Thank you, Havoc, but I'm afraid we need to move on. Thanks for coming on."_

_"No problem, Will."_

XXXX

**Pascal Labs**

**New York City, Northeastern American Coast**

**Blue Zone**

Doctor Pascal nodded to the camera man and interviewer, Jim Blair, "We on?"

"Just a minute, they're doing the story on the Nod temple in Cairo." Jim responded; "OK, we're on in three, two... one..."

"_And now we take you to Pascal Labs,"_ came the voice of William Frank back in the W3N main studio, "_Jim, what can you tell us?"_

The camera's red light turned on, and Blair began, "Thanks, William. I'm here in Pascal Labs with Doctor Pascal, the founder of the labs, which serve as Idris' secondary research facility. Now, doctor; what can you tell us about the experiments?"

"I know cybernetics are a grey, even black area of science. However, what we do is not full cyborg conversion, such as what Nod or ECG use," he started to explain, "What we're researching is new ways to use the technology from Nod in other ways; in this case, it's for replacement of lost limbs, but we also are looking into minor cybernetics; small augmentations, such as some additional protection for your ribs in the form of a steel-like plating or even brain-located command uplinks for our officers so they don't rely on their EVA units, they can handle it in their head while shooting the enemy. What we're not looking at is grafting permanent add-ons; possibly replacement lungs if someone's lungs or windpipes are irreparably damaged, but we are not looking at things that you see in Nod's cybernetic arsenal."

"So you're not interested in cybernetic super soldiers for GDI?"

"I won't deny that if there's a volunteer and I get the green light from all the appropriate channels I wouldn't hesitate to look into it, but I know that it's a _very_ dangerous process and at the current stage of the technology, _**nigh irreversible**_. I don't think its right to turn someone into a full blown cyborg until the process can be reversed and they can go back to being a normal human. Well, as normal as any of us can be."

"Now, there's been questions on the ethics of cybernetic experimentation; to quote one letter, "_Cybernetics is as bad as slavery and treason, it kills people and makes them mindless puppets"_. What do you have to say to that?"

"I'd like to point out rail guns, the Ion Cannon, and even weaponry in general; they're used to kill people, but we don't hesitate to use them ourselves because to forsake such would be _stupid_ to a degree to high to measure. Like everything, cybernetics is a science can be abused, and it _has_ been abused by CABAL and Nod extremists."

"So you're willing to risk the abuse?"

"Who knows what we might learn from these experiments? At the very least, an understanding of cybernetics will help us when we have to tackle other cyborgs, such as those who are still with Gideon's separatist extremists."

"Now, Doctor, you know what a sensitive issue this is; do you have any hesitation in doing these experiments?"

He leaned in, putting his hands on the desk and adopting an unusually serious tone; he had to get this across: "I considered the ethical questions of it, yes. I had to, didn't I? I'm keeping a strict policy of _volunteers only_; anyone who breaks that one rule when working on any of our cybernetic projects gets a pink slip faster than you can swear in any language. And that's if I'm in a good mood. If they break that one rule and I'm not in a good mood; and if I find that out I won't be, I'll probably go farther to put that person back in line."

Jim nodded, "Thank you for your time, Doctor. Now, would you like to add anything else?"

"Only one thing; we all know the costs of the TCN and that they're getting more and more difficult to handle, but what we're researching here is ways to minimize that cost; what would you chose, your husband, wife, parents, children with minor cybernetic augmentation that they agreed too, or being killed by Gideon's extremists? I have to ask people to ask that question to themselves. I'll respect the answer, it's not my decision to make, but it should be _considered_, at the very least."

XXXX

**GST **_**Enoch**_

**Earth Orbit**

Coric walked into the rec room where most of the on-board soldiers were taking the small amount of R&R they could get. He walked to the bar, "Barkeep, what's allowed for now?"

"Mildest stuff only; and only one glass of it." the barkeeper said, "Still, glasses are big."

"I'll take one. Chalk it on my next paycheck."

"Sure thing." He pulled a clean glass from the rack and filled it. Coric nodded and walked over to where Blade and a few others were sitting.

"Blade, Warren, Bert." Coric said as he sat down next to Blade, since there wasn't room next to Warren. He was across from him, though.

"Hey Sarge," Blade said, nodding, "How's the shoulder?"

"Fine; armor took it. They're fixing the suit now; won't take long to handle. Anyone know where the 222nd is?"

"Most of them are talking amongst themselves. They got hit pretty hard."

"We didn't escape without scars either," Bert said, tapping his small wound lightly before changing his tone. "When're we holding the services?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Coric answered truthfully, "Damn wish we could recover the bodies though... don't want to think about what ECG is using them for. They deserve better than being dumped into a Tib field."

Warren glanced at Blade, and he knew why. That was an old tactic used by various enemies, and, sadly, GDI soldiers in the field, despite regulations requiring that, if they are able to dispose of an enemy corpse they're supposed to either cremate it or bury it (preferably marked). Unfortunately, the conditions of war typically prevented such, and with Tiberium in the air during the late 50's, GDI soldiers didn't even have a choice sometimes.

"Well, let's hope what're they're getting, it's just." Blade finally said, "Dunno if there is a god out there; but if there is, I damn hope he's treating them right, or when I see the other side, I'm going to raise hell on heaven."

"Amen to that," Warren said, causing Coric to smirk at the irony. Bert raised his glass, "To friends no longer with us." They clinked them together before taking a sip.

XXXX

**February 7****th****, 2067**

**TCN Node # 812**

**Sinai Peninsula**

**Yellow Zone**

"What're we looking at?" asked Captain Marona Farreach, an Avenger tank company's leader. Hailing from a small Nod town in western Egypt, she was born in 2044, before her parents were refugees from GDI's counter attack in 2052, fleeing the Steel Talons as they brutalized the militia volunteers in their campaign of terror against Nod. The battle that had occurred in northern Florida, her birthplace, then a Yellow Zone, had scarred her at eight, especially seeing the humongous mechanized walkers firing their heavy rail guns at a poorly armed group of militia with only old automatic rifles and a pair of rocket launchers; it was far from right and left her a burning passion for revenge; which had tempered over the years as she learned more about what Nod truly was, but gave her the drive that pushed her to where she was that day. Her command was of fifteen Avenger tanks, her duty to protect the area from Gideon's radicals and any renegade mutant forces. Sitting in the command chair just behind the gunner and driver, she watched the map on her command screen, which showed the local TCN nodes as secure, but several unidentified signatures approaching the area.

"_Not sure, ma'am_," answered her second in command, Lieutenant Kenny Jethro Jenkins, a British man who was a more recent addition to Nod, part of the post-Third Tiberium War baby boom. He was in a second Avenger, just to the right of hers; "_Should I prepare the company for action_?"

"Standard checks only until verification. Where's the local GDI officer?"

"_None, ma'am; this is a Nod defended zone. Brother-Lieutenant Ayden Aras is in command_."

"Aras?" she asked, "Good. Open a link to him."

Aras appeared on the tank's command screen, and she nodded, "Lieutenant."

"_Captain_," Aras responded, inclining his head, "_Greetings. My Raiders are scouting out the incoming units now; they'll report shortly…"_

"_Hyena-Six to Hyena command;_" said another voice from Aras' end, "_Nothing out here but dust and rocks. Returning to base._"

"_Are you sure Hyena-Six? We have reports of unidentified units moving in; our radar is still showing them, near your position._"

"_Nothing here but dust and rocks, our stealth detection systems are at optimal, Command; we've done several laps. Returning to base…_" a thud, "_What was… sweet Kane! Incoming Scorpions; separatist uni…"_ An explosion from Hyena-Six's end, Aras shook his head with a sigh.

"_Captain, it sounds like we have a separatist group incoming, marking the blips."_

"Understood. Company, form up and report readiness; we're going to engage." Marona ordered, receiving affirmatives from the other Avenger tanks. As the fifteen tanks rolled to meet the ECG forces, Aras' men were gathering for support; consisting of the Devout cybernetic infantry and Deathless cybernetic infantry, they were a simple but effective group to defend the area, the Devout's chain guns suited for fighting other cyborgs, easily capable of matching GDI's Zone Enforcers. The defense squad was augmented with several Raider buggies, likely the same used by the scouts.

"Lieutenant Aras," Marona ordered, "Keep your men to the terrain they'll where work best; we need room to maneuver in the dunes."

"_Copy._"

"Jenkins, take your squad up the left flank, and be alert for any enemy rocket or heavy cannon troopers."

"_Copy that, squad two moving out._"

"Squads one and three, with me, we'll meet them at that ridge; roll up to it and wait for the tanks to cross; if our treacherous brothers aren't intelligent, they'll roll right over us, and show us the _dead_ underbelly of their tanks."

The tanks rolled up to the sand dune, waiting right before they crossed the hill; with some faith, the ECG units would roll right up…

Several minutes passed, and she wiped the sweat from her brow; even though the tanks had effective air conditioning and were somewhat roomier than older models, the Avenger's Liquid Tiberium cores still radiated considerable heat that the AC couldn't handle. _Still, the alternative is to drive weakly armored tanks. I'll take these hot, boxy things over driving a glorified cockroach any day, even if the cockroach has AC._

The ECG units were almost on top of them now; and she watched out the viewport… and the underside of a Scorpion came into view.

"All units, fire at will! Jenkins, are you on the flank?" The tank's main gun thundered, the gunner crying "On the way!" before firing.

"_Yes ma'am._"

"Good; when they begin to pull back, open fire. Hit them hard and before they can react."

"On the way!" _Thud_. The Avengers rolled back to get out of the wreckage, a Reckoner rolled over, stopping at the hill. "On the way!" _Thud_, a round of hot plasma was sent by the Avenger's main gun and sailed forward, hitting the enemy troop transport in the front and causing it to be knocked back down the ridge. The other two Scorpions and three Reckoners had been destroyed by the volleys, the passengers dead and dying from the internal explosions caused by the plasma rounds.

"Good work, squad. Jenkins, anything?"

"_Just two Reckoners trying to flee their reckoning. Nailed them hard and before they could escape._"

"Good. Regroup on the other side of the ridge."

The tanks rolled into motion, climbing over the ridge and riding it down, meeting with Jenkins' squad. Aras appeared to the side again, opening a transmission.

"_Captain; we're detecting another group of sep units incoming. By indications, your tanks just knocked the enemy vanguard out._"

"Understood. What's the terrain?"

"_Flat dunes; and the seps won't fall for the trick you used._"

"Understood. Company, form up; we're going to engage the enemy units in the dunes; hit them hard and move out of the way. Use the dunes as cover."

"_Copy._" Jenkins said.

"Captain;" the voice came from her LEGION uplink, "We have detected an ECG air transport inbound on your position. We presume it is carrying heavier armor."

"What kind, LEGION?" she asked. Nod officers in charge of companies were generally the only ones to directly interact with Kane's AI; the fact that he lowered himself to their level to assist was honor enough. _Then again, he's _powerful_ enough to do so. Makes CABAL look like a GDI personal EVA unit…_

"We suspect it to be a Mammoth Tank, older model and modified."

"Understood." She said, "I'm requesting additional support then; we'll need it to pound the heretics."

"Reinforcements en route. Engage at your own discretion. New objectives, Captain: Secure the TCN Nodes and destroy the enemy strike force."

"Understood, we'll execute them. Jenkins, did you hear?"

"_Yes ma'am, relaying._"

They drove into the open dune, and a force of sixteen ECG Scorpion Tanks, several Reckoners with a load of troops in each, and a number of buggies and attack bikes. _We're in way over our heads…_ she realized. The tanks advanced towards them while the other units broke off and went around… _what are they… nevermind. _The ECG tanks stopped,

"Incoming Transmission." LEGION reported.

"Open."

An ECG tank captain appeared, the cramped and hot conditions evidence on his face. _Probably a Russian,_ she thought as she looked at him.

"_Marionettes,_" said the ECG officer, "_We give you one chance to leave the heretic and cease to be his puppets."_

"This puppet has no strings," she responded, cutting him off and saying, "Fire at will! Target the lead tank for the first volley!"

"Yes ma'am… _On the way!_" **Thud**. About ten plasma rounds sped to the lead Scorpion, hitting it directly, blasting into the crew compartment, setting off its fuel lines and causing the tank to explode, utterly obliterated. The other five Avengers had fired at the tanks, hitting them. The first volleys from the other tanks were scattered, but on target. The ECG tanks rolled backwards, firing at the advancing Avengers. Grunting as a shell hit their frontal armor, Marona shook her head. "Fire until I say otherwise." She ordered.

XXX

Kenny Jenkins looked at the enemy tank ahead, "Gunner, Scorpion at 1 o'clock; fire!"

"_On the way!_" _Thud_. The shell flew forth and hit the enemy tank, but it was a grazing hit. The Scorpion returned fire, the crew seeming adept at firing on the move; the shot hit the Avenger's frontal armor and shook him up, causing him to hit his head against his console; stars exploding in front of him.

"… _the way!_" _THUD._ The shot echoed, deafening him for a moment. He dialed the Captain, "Captain Farreach, the enemy is causing trouble; tank thirteen is reporting engine failure and they're pounding our front armor."

"_Copy that. Pull back; let them run, our tech support is en route."_

"Copy that. Roll it backwards men, to the rendezvous."

Watching as the enemy tanks fled, they moved back to the rendezvous; every tank was somewhat damaged, but their armor was intact enough to avoid any mechanical failures. For now. Something hot was dripping down his forehead. "Nuts..." he muttered as he put a hand on his head; _Yeah, cut myself when I hit my head._ He reached for the emergency medkit to grab something to help stop the bleeding...

XXXX

**Temple of Nod**

**Cairo, Egypt**

**Blue Zone (Barely)**

Captain Steven McCarthy walked off of the transport, a team of Zone Rangers carrying carbines augmented with an underslung sonic grenade launcher, as well as several proper sonic grenade launchers and a few modified (upgraded) Peacekeeper shotguns. He glanced to the other group; "Get that Resonator off!" he barked, "We need to calibrate. Get to it."

"Yes sir!" responded the engineer that Commander Louise James had sent with the Resonator; he was glad that she was able to pull that out from the warehouses, they'd need it, and while clunky, it'd allow them to clear themselves with the sonic waves it could generate. Carried like a battering ram, the weapon was held by four soldiers, with an engineer to operate the system. It had been taken directly from an old decommissioned Shatterer and the power was linked to the armor of the soldiers carrying it; it'd be bulky and difficult to get through doors, but once they got that far, they figured they'd be able to get it through. Worse case worse, they would set it up as a defensive weapon, and had a mount ready to turn it into a makeshift Sonic Emitter. Each soldier was also carrying a Peacekeeper's Riot Shield, which was designed to absorb hits from assault rifles (though that was relatively limited), which would be useful if they needed to forge themselves cover. The shields were able to become half the size by the top and bottom quarters breaking off and sliding in front of the middle half, which was then held on a back-mounted harness.

Looking up as he saw Kane walk out, flanked by a pair of Enlightened cyborgs, McCarthy gave a curt nod, "Kane. Heard you needed an exterminator."

Chuckling, Kane answered with a smile, "I hope you're rates aren't high; we are a humble people."

"Yes... humble," he said as he glanced at the high tech equipment all over the base... and that stuff, he knew from reading logs, was _not_ cheap. "Well, show us in and we'll start the Tib-icide.."

"Very well; but first, allow LEGION access to your EVA unit's communication systems; he's monitoring the events below and will be assisting you."

McCarthy paused; "Alright." He brought up his EVA unit on his wrist, allowing LEGION access but limited it to communications only; all LEGION would be capable of doing with the squad's EVA units would be to send information and speak to the wearers and vice versa, but nothing more.

"Good. LEGION?"

As he was lead into the Temple, McCarthy listened to the briefing on his earpiece; his men were also being given the same briefing, but with their names instead of his.

"Welcome to Cairo, Captain McCarthy; you've been asked to assist in clearing the lower levels of Project ReGenesis which have gone rabid. Your sonic weapons are extremely effective against them, and this is amplified by the tight quarters. You will mostly be fighting in the old labs and the catacombs below, but gaining access to the catacombs will be difficult. We've determined the source is down there, but the rabid experiments have closed down the easy access to the catacombs by returning the rubble that blocked them and using the central power station as a new exit. Once there you can take the catwalks down, and you will come up near Abel's tomb, where we suspect the source is waiting. The rest of the catacombs will also need to be purged of any experiments. Be wary, Captain, we have limited Intel on the source and can provide no further information. Black Hand forces will assist, but their primary goal is to secure areas you have managed to clear so you have a strong fall-back position."

Entering the reconstruction of the Temple's museum, McCarthy noted there were some new models, including, to his great disgust, a model of the missile that nuked the _Philadelphia_. As the bile rose in his throat, reminding him of who Kane was, he thought, _If it weren't for this goddamn alliance we're stuck in, I'd just shoot Kane here and now._ Kane glanced at it, as if thinking it was insensitive...

"I apologize for that, but it is history. Our historians are determined to preserve accounts."

"I... see." McCarthy cautiously responded, "So; since the Commander can't show up, Lieutenant Ajay will be arriving shortly to establish a Taskforce firebase, since this location is to be used for restoring the Tacitus."

Kane nodded, "I'm aware, General Granger informed me this morning. I'd advise him to set it up to the south, on the other side of the old ruins, where we used to have an airstrip back in the First Tiberium War."

"Just give him a map," he hotly answered, "We weren't around back then."

"Hmm. Yes," Kane answered, frowning as they entered the last doors; he heard sounds ahead... the distinct hiss of Black Hand weaponry; _Flamethrowers_.

"I take it they're busy..."

"You'll work with Deacon Tabor's forces, but their primary objective is to secure locations. While the flames we have are effective, the time it'd take them to incinerate a whole corridor would allow the experiments to shoot them dead; I'm hoping your garrison-clearing tactics are effective."

"Don't sweat it," McCarthy said, even though he knew it was going to be a challenge, "I'm a commando, remember?" They entered the door and a makeshift lift was waiting for them. He could see barricades established with the Black Hand flame troopers putting their flamethrowers through holes and simply sending our flames while other Black Hand soldiers fired laser assault rifles. They descended down the lift, Kane remaining above, and McCarthy called, "OK, which one of you is Tabor?"

"Here," said a woman in damaged Black Hand armor, her helmet lying to the side to reveal her raven black hair, likely dyed, next to the barricade, "I take it you're the GDI squad Kane called?"  
"Do I look like anyone else?"

"No. Regardless, the experiments are jammed into that corridor; we had them try to tunnel out, but we were able to stop it before they could get into our flanks, though they did make off with Kane's old trophy..."

"Trophy?" McCarthy asked as he checked his sonic grenades, old ZOCOM ones that were out of date but still very dangerous in close quarters, modified to be hand thrown.

"Seth. The bastard who tried to betray him in the First Tiberium War."

"We'll try to leave him intact, then. No promises."

"Hrrrmf." Tabor grunted, glancing at the Resonator, "What's that thing?"

"You ever take a Sonic Emitter attack to the face?" McCarthy asked slyly, "Maybe... hrrrm," he glanced at her face, guessing her age, "About... oh, any of the conflicts in the 50's."

"No, we didn't engage GDI unless you attacked us."

McCarthy glanced over the barricade and threw a sonic grenade over, the explosion echoing as the sonic _**boom**_ hit, obliterating a squad of acolytes... "Do you blame us, after what you did in 54?"

"No, but attacking innocent townships was out of line."

"Innocent?" McCarthy shouted, outraged that a _Black Hand_ soldier was giving him crap about attacking the innocent, "What the hell, they had Hands of Nod there, legit military targets! You bomb residential districts and blatantly use area of effect in civilian-crowded urban combat yet you give us crap about attacking innocents? I thought the Black Hand's policy was 'make it serve Kane, or burn it to hell'."

"Look, little soldier, we're in a bit of a situation here,"

"Yeah, I know," McCarthy said as the Resonator was moved to the barricade and put into a fresh hole, and it fired, the sonic wave echoing down the corridor and destroying a wave of enemies, "We'll settle this _after_. Squad, prepare to advance!"

Six of the twelve Rangers took the Peacekeeper riot shields off their back and turned them on, the shields snapping to their full height.

"Only enough room for two by two," Tabor chimed in, and four of the soldiers turned the shields off. "And how are you going to use the Resonator with that?"

"Ready to fire a big one; get that barricade removed and wait for my signal."

The Rangers using the riot shields moved up as the Black Hand soldiers removed the barricade; as they lowered it, McCarthy threw another sonic grenade into the hallway, obliterating another group of experiments trying to rush forward. _Damn, these things must breed like rats..._ he thought, _how the hell did they get this numerous? Havoc's old reports didn't say they had _that_ many…_

The barricade was removed, and McCarthy gave the order, "Fire!"

The Resonator, overclocking its sonic systems, fired, an even whiter burst of energy speeding up the corridor, completely blasting the wave of incoming Initiates to atoms as they were shaken apart to fine dust. The two shield-bearing Rangers quickly got into the corridor and the rest of the squad got behind them as they advanced, the two behind readying their shields for when they broke out of the corridor and into the research center... McCarthy was right behind the shield-bearers.

XXX

**TCN Node # 812**

**Sinai Peninsula**

**Yellow Zone**

"Enemy units on radar!" Marona said as they saw the enemy convoy rolling up; four dozen Scorpions escorting large numbers of Reckoners, and, by the looks of it, Harvesters carrying loads of Tiberium. "All units; spread out and get into some form of cover." Their tank rolled behind a small sand dune; just enough to lend them some cover against an enemy volley, but it'd only last a short time.

"We're detecting an enemy airborne squadron incoming, fall back to the TCN Node before those units arrive." LEGION advised.

"All units, launch one or two volleys at the convoy then move it back to the Node. Aras, what're the defenses?"

"_Central Node has pretty good defenses, the others also have dual rocket turrets designated for anti-air and ground operation, while the main one has laser turrets around the perimeter. We have a War Factory and a Hand of Nod as well, so if you need repairs, send the tanks over."_

"Copy that, all units return to the main node after the volley."

"On the way!" shouted her tank's gunner, firing one round as they drove away, the round sailing into the front Scorpion tank and hitting it in a sweet spot. _Thank God for that luck,_ she thought as LEGION registered the hit. They drove across the dune, the TCN node visible in the distance as the distinct white light shone into the air, excess energy released harmlessly into the skies, counteracting the formation of Ion Storms. _Beautiful view,_ she decided as the sun was setting. They approached the hill that the TCN Node was on, and drove up, the rest of the company joining them. They drove in, seeing Devout cyborgs moving into position with Deathless checking their rocket launchers. The tank drove up to the base's war factory, and the drones there began repairs. A man in Black Hand armor walked up, carrying a heavy assault rifle. Watching him from the viewport, she opened the hatch and rose up, looking at him.

"Captain," said the Black Hand officer, "Lieutenant Aras, Brotherhood's 3rd Australian battalion, company C."

She nodded as he took his helmet off, revealing that he was quite old, she frowned, "Are you a veteran of the Third Tiberium War?"

Aras paused, then nodded, "Yes… Ayer's Rock was the major battle I was involved with, then I was on guard duty…"

"Ah," she said, pausing before continuing, "What's your advice then, for the engagement ahead?"

"Well, the sep convoy is a bit large for us to tackle, so I'm thinking we use hit-and-run, and try to slow them down. Lure their air support over to our Deathless and rocket turrets, then rip the convoy apart."

She frowned, "Do we have any mobile anti-air aside from the Deathless?"

"No, but we have a squad of Mantis' and an additional strike force inbound to engage, but they won't get here for about ten minutes. Enemy convoy will be passing us in six, and they'll likely engage the nodes."

She nodded, then hit the side of the tank as the drones finished repairs, "I'll talk to you outside, we need to move out of the way."

Aras nodded as the tank began driving away.

XXX

"_Crusader Squadron, stay alert,_" said the new Crusader Leader, _"We have reports of our blinded brothers being in the area._"

"Crusader five copies," Oriana Lawson answered, joining a chorus of acknowledgements. She glanced at her Cobra's radar; the convoy was below them. The altitude meter read 600 feet; they were flying low to make sure the air units weren't spotted too quickly.

"_Crusader seven to Crusader Lead, what happened to the convoy's vanguard?"_

"_Seven, Lead; they were knocked out by a company of Avengers that came by."_

Shaking her head, she knew that the vanguard was supposed to plug the node garrison here so the convoy could pass quicker, but now they'd have to punch a hole through and advance to their main objective. _We're supposed to besiege Cairo with this taskforce? We don't have enough to lay an extended siege there, Kane's forces will just plug us up and wait for GDI to drop in reinforcements…_

"Five to squadron; look alive," she reported as she saw something speed onto her radar, "I have something on radar."

"_Lead here, what is it?_"

"Five to Lead, Unsure, but it's moving fast."

"_Lead copies; Crusader Five and Crusader Six, break formation and investigate. If it's one of our deceived brothers, blow them apart."_

"Five copies." She increased the throttle on the Cobra and broke formation, moving ahead, another Cobra on her wing.

"_Six to Five; gotta say, this is going to be a battle._"

"Agreed," she answered, "I'm in doubt though, if we have enough to properly destroy the base before GDI shows up."

"_GDI? They're concerned about their pompous Blue Zones, not Nod._"

"They responded quick enough when we hit Hammerfest; units were raining out of the sky!"

"_Well, we've had a bunch of engagements in wide areas lately, so I think that they'll be tied up._"

"Hope you're right; I'm getting a visual… it's a Raider! Cut off his escape to the main node, I'll take him out."

"_Copy that!_" Six broke off and sped ahead while she aimed at the buggy, speeding towards it and locking on… the Raider spotted her and opened fire, sending bursts of laser fire up. She fired, the single round speeding down and hitting the buggy on the side, causing it to spin out of control and hit, but it was still firing. Six dived down and fired, finishing the buggy off.

"_That'll take time to replace._" Six answered as the flames burned on the desert evening.

"Yeah. Let's rejoin the squadron."

XXXX

"… _Buggy Two here, enemy air…"_ an explosion cut off the rest of the transmission. Aras sighed, then looked at his LEGION uplink, looking at the spot the buggy had marked before being blown apart… it was between the main node in the area and one of the secondary nodes… _Odd, it's like they're trying to bypass us…_ he thought, frowning.

"What do you think?" he asked Captain Farreach over the radio.

"_I'm guessing that they're aiming to hit us on a flank while we head out to engage. You have a lock on the main convoy?"_

"Rough location only; coordinates Echo-Four."

"_The reinforcements won't be here for another few minutes, and we can start hitting them. Anywhere good along that line for an ambush?"_

"Unfortunately, no. If we engage, it's going to be frontal."

"_Fifteen against forty-eight, and that's just tanks. It's suicide unless we're using defenses."_

"Agreed; we won't engage them save for hit and run. Do you think you can hit them?"

"_Easily, but disengaging will be the trick._"

"_This is Black Inferno squadron,_" came an almost upper-class voice, Aras couldn't identify the accent, however, _"Lieutenant Aras, Captain Farreach, we're coming in to land at the node and will provide bombing runs."_

"Vertigos?" Aras asked.

"_Correct. We have a Carryall bringing over the necessities to maintain our fine craft. Please stand by for flames of justice."_

Aras watched as they gained a new view on the enemy convoy… LEGION had gotten them access to a GDI Spy Satellite. He watched…

Suddenly, six batwing like craft materialized out of thin air, each one dropping a heavy 3,000 pound bomb, which exploded tremendously, each one knocking out a single enemy tank. The Vertigo bombers immediately turned away and sped up as enemy Cobra craft gave chase, firing.

"_This is Captain Farreach, we're moving up to engage the enemy flanks; Lieutenant, we need your rocket soldiers to cover us."_

"Copy that. Our Devout can also provide some anti-air. Squad four, move over to assist."

He watched as nine Devout and three Deathless moved out to support the fifteen tanks… _good luck, brothers,_ he thought as he watched them go.

XXX

**Temple of Nod; Cairo**

**Blue Zone (Barely)**

McCarthy fired his rifle as more of the initiate experiments came out like a zombie survival horror movie, and these zombies died. He fired several more bursts as they sprinted at them unarmed, but they couldn't get past the shield-bearing soldiers, using the riot shields to keep the undead-like creatures back. They broke into what was once the inner lab, and he could see that they had indeed collapsed the passage Havoc had used, coming out of the two entrances to the central power core; not in use as Nod was using exterior generators for the time being. They assumed positions at the railings, using collapsed ceiling parts and now-useless crates as cover as they shot the incoming experiments.

McCarthy looked over and saw one sprinting for the other stairwell up… he shot him, then another trying. There were dozens of experiments sprinting up for them…

"Resonator ready!" shouted the engineer as it was brought up and moved to the platform facing the opposite stairwell. Black Hand assault infantry were behind them, firing their particle rifles at the experiments, lending their fire.

"I thought you said they had rifles!" McCarthy said as he shot an acolyte-class experiment trying to get under them so it could sprint to the nearby stairs… which was a bad move as two soldiers had the area covered. The experiments were no match for GDI's accelerated rounds, but they had numbers, and were coming consistently enough that they'd have a very difficult time advancing now… and ammo may even become a problem.

"They do," Tabor answered as she threw an incendiary grenade over, the grenade hitting the door to the old power core and blowing it wide open. "But they must not be using them!"

Suddenly several green dust clouds were seen flying over their heads; _Yep, rifles!_ He glanced over and spotted several Acolytes armed with the archaic Tiberium shard rifles shooting up from makeshift cover at the opposite end. And these ones were fighting like a group of militants which got into cover. McCarthy turned the safety on for his rail carbine and flipped it into his back-mounted gun harness, pulling his sniper rifle out and assembling it. He aimed at the area and saw one of the Acolytes; he fired, the sniper round blasting across the room, blowing through several initiates rushing forward from the power core, and hit the Acolyte in the chest, blowing it back and into the wall.

"Nice shot," Tabor said as she opened fire with her rifle, knocking out several more, "Glad you're on our side."

"Don't worry, if you turn on us, I'll make sure to aim for your 'sweet' heart." He responded, punctuating it by taking another shot, removing another of the rifle wielding acolytes from battle. He heard another burst of the resonator, and he heard the constant _thud_ of GDI rail carbines going off as the rangers ripped through dozens of the experiments each… with no end in sight.

"It's like they're dividing," commented a Black Hand soldier in an unusually soft voice for such a soldier, "Like cells in the body."

"Didn't know they included biology into the training regiment," commented the ranger next to him, Private Alicia Acosta, as she shot an Acolyte advancing and laying down cover-fire. McCarthy snickered mentally as he aimed at the now-open door, picking off another two initiate experiments sprinted up the core's amazingly-intact catwalks.

"Save the intellect for later, Brother Shamus," Tabor ordered, "For now, burn these things!"

XXXX

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

Ahsoka groaned as she opened her eyes a fraction of what she'd normally do; a doctor was there. She could hardly see even as she opened her eyes more; she thought she saw stainless steel grey; white lights... cabinets with symbols she couldn't make out. _What?..._ she thought, trying to figure out what was going on. She felt aches from her shoulder, especially her right, and her chest. Worse, she had difficulty feeling her right arm and hand.

"Easy, commander," said the doctor as he realized she was waking up, "We've managed to treat the wound, but you need to rest."

"Where... am I?" she asked, disoriented; she tried to remember what happened; all she remembered was taking something in some battle.

"GST _Methuselah_, ma'am," the doctor answered, "Medical bay. We treated your wound."

She gave a small nod, then lay her head back, trying to remember how events had transpired. She blinked; she remembered... McCarthy shooting the hell out of an enemy soldier, ripping through the armor like it was plastic with the extremely powerful rail carbine he used... fierce melee combat in the enemy base's barracks as they fought through to clear it out, a firefight in its underground and indoor training room standing out... a sniper...

_Right,_ she thought with a sigh, _I got nailed by a sniper... suppose it could of been worse._

She winced as the wound seemed to pulse; she glanced at her shoulder, to the wound, but it had been completely covered in white bandaging, keeping her shoulder from moving. _Probably _don't_ want to see it,_ she decided as she laid her head back onto the pillow.

The doctor walked back over, having entered something into the medical room's console, and was holding a GDI datapad.

"Alright Commander; here's where we're at; we treated the wound, but it's going to take a while for the regen serum to kick in. You'll probably be in here for a week at the least just to get the flesh and bone back anywhere close to where it was. However, you won't be anywhere near self-sufficiency for a month at the least. Partly because of your... unique physiology, which doesn't react positively to the sniper round's unique compound, and partially because we want to make sure this wound doesn't have any surprises. New enemy rounds..." the doctor inhaled as he thought about it.

"So it's desk duty until then?"

"Not for a week, possibly two, if it takes longer to heal than usual. Probably will, I'm afraid."

"I hope I can at least try and keep up with my work..."

"No; you need to rest."

"Alright," she answered, frowning, "What about Sergeant Coddington?"

"Same condition as you are, but his body is handling it better; he's about a day ahead of you, far as we can tell. Still taking it carefully."

"Do you think I can talk to him?"

"I'll let him know. Chances are he'll visit you, considering your condition."

Ahsoka grimaced as another bolt of pain shot through her; _Yeah, 'condition'._

XXX

"She's up?" Mitchell said in his office as he received the note on his EVA unit.

**"That's what the message says, sir,"** answered his EVA unit.

Nodding, "Pass it on to General Rex. He on the _Methuselah_ yet?"

**"Affirmative."**

"Good, I'll meet him at the main elevator." He pushed himself up, and put his chair in.

XXX

**TCN Node #812**

**Sinai Peninsula**

**Yellow Zone**

Captain Farreach watched the radar as the tanks rolled out, the cybernetic soldiers behind them as they moved into position. The tank rolled to a halt as the others moved into position, and she looked out the viewport, watching the enemy tanks rolling towards them, in a spearhead formation to protect the Reckoners in the center…

"Alright men," she ordered, "look alive and train your cannons on a target. We're concealed by the dunes for now, but it won't last. When I give the word, fire."

The enemy convoy rolled up, seeming unaware of the ambush lying in wait… she inhaled, the tension building up…

"Enemy units in range."

"All units, _fire!_"

"_On the way!_" **Thud.** The plasma round sped out of the tank's cannon and sped at the enemy convoy, joining a volley. They spearheading enemy Scorpions took the hits, slowing down as they recovered, then drove on. A dozen tanks and two Reckoners broke off… heading for the Node.

"_Captain Farreach, they're heading for the node."_

"I copy. Vertigos, are you on the…"

Several bombs suddenly exploded in the main convoy and the Vertigos, visible for a brief second, sped away, anti-aircraft fire trailing behind them. _"We will engage the enemy convoy, focus on the ground pounders."_ Said the Vertigo squadron leader.

"Copy that. Tanks, roll to the TCN node and engage the enemy units going for it." The tank began to roll backwards as they reversed-moved back, keeping their frontal armor facing the enemy.

"_On the way!_" **Thud.**

"Additional enemy units detected from the opposite vector; it's a single Reckoner."

"_I have an eye on it,_" Aras said from base, "_Looks like it's a small flanking group trying to hit the node, I'll handle it."_

"Copy that." She grunted as a tank shell hit her Avenger tank, causing her to hit her head on the console. Muttering a swear under her breath, she looked for the offending enemy Scorpion; "Gunner, target the Scorpion at point seven-one."

"Yes ma'am! _On the way!_" **Thud.** The shell flew out towards the enemy tank, which was damaged, hitting it in the turret and punching through, exploding inside. The Scorpion had an explosion occur inside, causing it to almost jump a mere inch and land, it's gun turret blown to the opposite side, smoke rising from the wreck.

"Good shot!" Marona said, "Jenkins, how're you doing?"

"_Some damage, but we're pulling back; I lost two of my tanks though; destroyed."_

"Damn it. Squad three lost one as well. Most of us are sporting battle damage."

"_Still got some enemy Scorpions rolling up at us. Seems like the rest of the convoy is ignoring us... aw hell, airstrike!_"

XXXX

Oriana smiled as she dived down at the enemy Avenger, firing a single round into its turret; the shell hit, knocking the tank, but the shell hit the side, causing a tread to be ruined, but the tank still rolled. Hovering over, she fired two more rounds as soon as they were readied. _Burn, traitors._ she thought as she fired a fourth shot, then pulled away, satisfied at her work.

"_Got my target; let's regroup with the others."_ said her wing-mate.

"Got it. I got mine too."

XXX

Marona pushed the hatch open as the last shell hit; they were trying to get out of their disabled tank, to get clear of the barrage, but now it was too late. The last shell's explosion causing the internal Liquid Tiberium power cell to ignite, sending a burst of energy inside, and although the interior armor protected them from the flames, the force of the explosion still shook the tank as a whole, causing her to be slammed into the side, knocking her head against the hatch, and she slumped over the open hatch; something was sticking into her hips... and trickling out. She lost consciousness, only feeling the pain of whatever the explosion had done to her...

XXX

"Unit Lost." LEGION dully registered, emotionless. "Transferring command of her units to you, Lieutenant Aras. Enemy units are closing on the hub, and seem to be aiming to disable the Vertigo launch sites and neutralize the node."

"Understood," Aras said as he readied his heavy-duty rifle; the rifle was a heavily modified Black Hand particle beam; and it had been upgraded to punch through vehicular armor after an incident in Ethiopia cost the Black Hand quite a few, casualties they couldn't afford, so a full equipment upgrade went into effect. Cocking it and taking the safety off, he aimed at the incoming enemy soldiers, ECG's light infantry... he fired, the round sailing forth and ripping into the enemy's chest, burning a hole straight through, as large as his head. _Damn,_ he thought as his stomach churned at the thought, _and I thought Purifying Flames were scary to watch..._ the soldier collapsed; and he could hear the screams from over two hundred yards away...

He shook the thoughts out of his head as he powered another shot, and fired, repeating the process on another soldier.

"Right here sir!" shouted one of the Devout under his command, a young man everyone called "Quad"; evidently he took out four enemy soldiers in one barrage of his Gatling-gun arm during their first battle. _The new guys sure are enjoying nicknames,_ he mused, _but then again, many of our foot soldiers, even with reorganization, still have traits of a common militia._ He punctuated the thought by shooting another enemy soldier, a cyborg Awakened, causing it to collapsed with a lucky shot... to the head. _Wow... my first headshot._ he mused, realizing that had he been a young militant fresh from a Hand of Nod, he'd of cheered... but now, he simply charged up another shot, the next enemy soldier dying as the other soldiers reinforced.

"_Lieutenant Jenkins to Lieutenant Aras; reporting in. We're holding at the other end and keeping the enemy tanks off; but we're down to half-strength from damage."_

"Understood..."

XXXX

**Sub Level 3**

**Cairo Temple of Nod**

**Blue Zone (Barely)**

McCarthy took one last shot before putting his sniper rifle away; "Alright, we've blunted most of them. Make a push, secure the reactor, _now!_"

The Rangers rose and moved, getting into the reactor room and throwing a cautionary sonic grenade down; he heard several experiments squeal as the grenade detonated, obliterating them.

"Dunno how many are left, but that's gotta put a number on them." McCarthy commented, "Alright Deacon, bring your units up and let's start pushing down."

The Black Hand soldiers moved up behind them, bringing barricades to bear and setting them up at the top; they could now pour down all the ammunition they wanted. As he looked at it, McCarthy mused; _If we only had to hold, I'd say dump lateral-blast ordnances down 'till it's clear... maybe flood it... wait, the Noddies would go nuts._ "Alright; here's the fun part; we have to advance _down..._"

Suddenly, a sharp pain punched into his mind; he wasn't the only one; it was like a wail, echoing... pain... anger... betrayal... _Son of a bitch!_ he thought as the agony continued...

"What in God's name..." muttered one of the Black Hand Disciples; Shamus.

_Come..._ said a voice, sounding in pain, within McCarthy's head; _Talk..._

"You getting anything?" McCarthy muttered before the sharp headache kicked in again.

"Yeah!" said one of the Rangers.

"You mean a sharp pain?" asked Tabor.

"No; some..." he grunted again as he heard another word, _GDI... discuss..._

"Think it's just GDI, boss..."

"Probably..." McCarthy said, "You Black Hand getting any sort of words forming in your head?"

"No," Tabor said, just sharp jabs of pain."

McCarthy paused; "Alright, I think it wants us to come down and negotiate, but we won't be stupid about it. Hanson, Lucy, you'll be at the base of the silo; Javers, Swiftson, you'll mark the end of whatever tunnel we get at. Keep to your pairs; the rest of us will move down and spread as needed, but try and keep together. If the experiments bullrush you, call down the Black Hand and try to get us out; if we come running up, _get to the top_. Let's go."

They descended, the Black Hand holding at the top. McCarthy was amazed that the catwalks were still intact; still, they didn't take any chances, checking to see if the next segment would hold before crossing. They reached the bottom, and the two Rangers designated broke off, assuming defensive positions at the door. They continued down a long tunnel... and eventually came out in ancient ruins; sandy and old, showing signs of bullet marks... extremely old ones, and even burns. _Havoc's handiwork,_ McCarthy mused, _he was really good at being a walking armory..._ he glanced right; there were experiments, but they seemed to have a different attitude... as if they were almost gone, depleted... to the left, he saw a man; he was young, wearing all black... McCarthy blinked rapidly a few times, activating his helmet's built-in rangefinder and zoomed in; he had a proud, Middle Eastern (for lack of better description) look to him, but he wore his beard simply, showing a more western, for want of a better word, side as well. McCarthy could tell he had something to him... a kind of confidence... and there was something red splattered on the side of his head... like a bullet wound. McCarthy tapped his EVA unit and quietly said, "EVA, check our rogue's gallery... present and past; match with the man at about sixty yards ahead."

**"Complying... data acquisition complete."**

A picture and name were shown, with other information; _Seth? Wait a minute, he's Kane's right hand guy... or was... he's been dead for seventy years! Havoc... OK, something's going _really_ weird..._

"Stay frosty, Rangers," he said cautiously as he approached, "Keep the fingers off the triggers but keep the clips in and safeties off."

He approached, ready to react instantly if violence broke out... but even he couldn't deny there was something _charismatic_ about this figure, just in his presence... He immediately recalled one of the lessons Ahsoka had given all the Taskforce's leaders, about Scrin mind control... he immediately started to play Red Zone Hold'em in his head; something he had practiced until the point he could do it to create a sort of static to keep anyone with mental abilities off balance; _at least, it worked in some training sessions with the commander..._ they entered the small alcove, which McCarthy realized from Havoc's reports was _'Abel's Tomb'_.

"Alright... Seth, am I right?" McCarthy said, lowering his carbine.

"Correct."

"Alright, what do you want?"

"Kane. He has to be stopped... he's throwing everything out of balance."

"Funny, last we checked, you were on his side."

"A mole, if you will. I thought he could be turned to use his plan for the better... I was wrong. You must believe me; Kane has corrupted much of humanity; allowing him to continue his influence is only asking for..." he paused, looking behind him; McCarthy glanced back but kept his eye on Seth...

"If you will allow me to explain..."

"You're the one behind these things?"

"Yes." Seth admitted, "They were lost, confused... beyond hope in life; I, unintentionally, must have given them a purpose, until their mutations destroyed them."

"How'd so many wind up being created?"

"They began to mutate, to split... they seemed to of reacted to the detonation of a nuclear warhead, and aimed to rescue me... for that, I am grateful." He paused, then slowly walked behind the tomb, looking at the old mosaic of Kane killing Abel; "You know this scene, correct?"

"Yes, it's from the Bible stories; Cain killed Abel in jealously; 'God' apparently liked Abel slitting livestock as a gift whereas Cain preferred produce. So Cain shanked Abel, then got booted to the 'Land of Nod'. Pretty much common knowledge in GDI, considering who Nod's boss is."

Seth looked at McCarthy, bemused; "While normally I would caution you to watch your tongue; you have the basis correct."

"And this is... Abel's tomb, huh?"

"That is correct... from a certain point of view."

_Oh great... just what I wanted to hear; last time I heard that, we were knee-deep in renegade Forgotten._ McCarthy thought dryly, before refocusing on his mental defense.

"The tomb," Seth continued, then pulled the stone cover off of the sarcophagus... "is empty. As I feared."

"What does that mean?"

"You know of the Scrin, yes?"

"Correct. Even a bit of their origin, if what we recovered is true."

"Who does it mention?"

McCarthy paused, "'cording to the Commander, the Scrin had five originals; two of which we shot the cults of when they showed up, rest we don't know about. We do know that one of them apparently 'seeded' the universe with impartations of her power or whatnot, but the Commander clarified that one; coincidence."

"You commander?... you mean?... Ahsoka Tano?"

McCarthy was seriously unnerved now, _This guy has been dead for seventy fricken years_; "How did you know?"

"Death is a thing that I, like Kane, will never see. Nor shall Abel."

The Rangers looked at each other, "Cap'n, you know that we have to take him down eventually," one finally said, "With all due respect; perhaps we should take Seth to either Resolute or Mirage, and speak him there. May have to thrash him to make it look convincing; sir."

McCarthy paused; "You may be right... but..." he heard a beep on his comlink; _"Cap'n, Black Hand soldiers comin' down. They're worried."_

"Tell them we're investigating something, and Flamethrowers are the last thing we need..." he looked at Seth, "Alright, time's wasting; what're you going to do?"

"Kane can't be allowed to realize what's going on. We shall have to do battle... study it well, you'll have to face someone with our kind of abilities... much like Kane, I cannot die... and you know Kane's can bring powers to bear."

"Right..." he cocked his rifle and aimed, "Nothing personal then; hope you're insurance is good." The rest of the rangers took aim as well...

...and Seth simply gave a grave nod, "I wish I did not have to fight my way through honorable men and women, but Kane can't be allowed to continue his plan without something to check him. Let us begin."

McCarthy opened fire before he even finished the last three words, as did the others with a clear firing line... and as they unleashed a full auto, something seemed to slow the bullets down... and Seth had a _lightsaber_ in his hand suddenly! _Where the fuck did he get that?_ McCarthy thought, "Pull back, don't let him close! Suppress him!"

They moved back quickly, firing enough ammunition to keep Seth pinned at the empty tomb; they fell back up the tunnel, the Black Hand realizing a fight was going on and pulling back to let the GDI team through. Private Acosta stopped, turning and pulling her shotgun out, firing a single burst, causing Seth to get out of the way before she turned back to the sprint to escape. They fell back to the catwalk, and the Black Hand had apparently moved their fortifications down into the base of the silo... _Not a bad idea,_ McCarthy thought as they got back over the barricades; he was the last one back, Acosta getting in front as he laid down a salvo to cover the retreat.

"Get those flamethrowers ignited! Now!" Tabor shouted, and a pair of Disciples moved up and spat fire out of their flamethrowers, the blue flames consuming the tunnel inside... but McCarthy heard no scream, and an unusual sound was heard... and the flames were buffeting into the sides... and it was getting closer. Another Disciple joined in, but had no effect, while the others simply remained, ready to take the place of any on the front if anyone fell.

"You gotta be kidding me..." one of the Rangers said, disciple breaking down, "What the hell is this guy?"

"Something tells me we met the good Commander's equivalent... _just_ what we need! Where's the damn Resonator?"

"_We can't get it down_," said an engineer over the comlink.

"Just what we need; Tabor, keep the flames flooding..." McCarthy ordered, flipping the safety off of his rail carbine and putting it onto his back harness, grabbing and assembling his sniper rifle quickly. "Tabor, how hot do those flames burn?"

"Off the charts, silver!"

"Great;" _Probably hot enough to melt out bullets to slag..._ "On my mark, stop the firestorm, we'll volley him with carbine rounds to distract him and I'll aim for a sniper shot." He moved back to the catwalk, aiming down until he was sure he'd be in position...

"_Now!_"

The torrents of blue flame ceased as the Disciples of the Black Hand shut their flamethrowers off; a hailstorm of blue-streaked bullets, accelerated by GDI's latest technology to the point of near plasma status, sped down into the shaft, where Seth was... the bullets were _slowing down..._ others were merely deflected into the side of the tunnel. McCarthy aimed for the chest and took the shot; the rail sniper round sped down... but was slowing down... until right at Seth's face, which was held in the deepest of concentration, it stopped... _Aw shit..._

"_Flame him_!" Tabor ordered, and the torrent of flame resumed, the demonic blue flames leaping out like heartless lightning; before disappearing behind the flames, McCarthy saw Seth deactivate the lightsaber and focus, much as he'd seen Ahsoka do so during the Taskforce's engagements during the 50's... _She could always give us cover,_ he mused, _heck, she kept them from slathering us with chemicals or old 2030's shotguns... wait a second, that's it!_

"Alright, I got a new plan. Tabor, do your flamethrowers have a lower potency of fuel? Something that my Zone Armor can handle?"

"_We can get some men down with our old flamethrowers; why_?"

"We need to get close to him under the cover of flame; and put a shotgun to his ass. Literally."

"_I like that idea. You sure the armor'll hold though?"_

"Got a better idea?" McCarthy hotly responded into his comlink, needed due to the high volume of the torrential flames. _So glad for ear protection..._

_"Wish I did. Alright; Shamus, go get the old flamethrowers and bring Disciples to use them."_

McCarthy watched as the Disciple, Shamus, broke off and moved up the catwalk quickly.

The torrents of flame ceased, suddenly... Seth was standing there, looking at them, before the torrents of flame resumed and the standoff continued...

XXX

**TCN Node #812**

**Sinai Peninsula**

**Yellow Zone**

Aras ducked as a rocket sped over, hitting the TCN node and charring it's heavy armor. "LEGION, what's going on with the main enemy force?"

"The enemy force is escaping; but we cannot stop it here. We are regrouping a proper force to counter it; your mission for now is to hold the node and rescue who you can of Captain Marona's forces, if they need assistance."

"Damn, if she's alive that'll be a prayer answered by God himself..." Aras muttered before he rose up and blasted an enemy officer in the stomach, blowing the flesh out and incinerating it. The woman dropped, hitting the rocks with the back of her head, the rock splitting into it. One of the Devout took a barrage of laser fire from a pair of cover-using light infantryman and collapsed... dead.

"Unit Lost." LEGION registered. Aras never got used to the inhumanity, the lack of care for the life of the soldier dying (or just being crippled); especially after seeing one die in front of his eyes. _Don't focus on that, slot the rest of these guys before they finish off anyone else!_ "Unit Lost."

He simply answered that by shooting one of the enemy light infantrymen, avenging, in half, the fallen Devout as another fell.

XXX

"_On the way!_" **THUD.**

Lieutenant Jenkins rubbed his forehead as sweat rolled down it; "Good God, the fumes are _terrible_."

"I hear that," said the tank's driver, who was, since they were holding position, trying to put down an emergency plate onto a damaged spot in the armor that had broken through and nearly killed him; "We really need R&R after this."

"If I can find an officer willing to authorize it, I'll try and get it," Jenkins responded, "Gunner, target the enemy at nine o'clock; waste that motherfucker!"

"Got her locked! _On the way!_" **THUD.** The shell, ramped up to a plasma state by the main gun, sped forward, hitting the enemy officer armed with a rocket launcher and utterly left nothing behind; only two sickeningly smoking legs, burnt off halfway down the thighs, which then collapsed to the side; opposite ways. Gore, burnt metal and obliterated armor was also scattered about; what was left, that is.

"Enemy light infantryman at 10 o'clock! Gunner?"

"Stand by sir; main cannon is cooling..." the gunner punctuated it by shoving the next shell into the tube. "Aiming... target locked..." a second passed and the firing triggers turned from a low red light to a green light; "_On the way!_" the gunner shouted, before pulling both triggers simultaneously; **THUD**. The shell sped out and hit near the enemy soldier, sending him flying away; he did not get up. Another soldier rushed over, a pistol in hand, and knelt near the soldier.

"What an idiot... gunner, at your discretion."

"Yes sir!"

XXX

Chan Kwai, a medic in ECG hailing from western China, rushed forward as he saw the soldier take the near-hit from the tank shell. He reached the downed man and started pulling him behind the rocks... he could hear agonized breathes from under the helmet. _Come on... come on..._ He managed to get behind the rocks; and he hoped the Avenger would obey the Geneva Convention...

Pulling the soldiers mask off, he confirmed the soldier was still alive and was now his patient...

But he would never get the chance to perform his duty as a medic, as a taker of the Hippocratic oath, as the Avenger tank fired, and blew not only himself, but his patient up as well.

XXX

"Good shot; I'm seeing limbs soaring." Jenkins said, his stomach churning uneasily as he wondered why the idiot pulled the man out... _damn, their combat engineers must not be too bright._ He dismissed the churn as simply the gore of the battle.

XXX

"Crusader Five here; I'm on the tail of a Vertigo; I got his stealth system."

_"Good shot, Crusader Five. Coming around to help you finish him."_

"Copy that, Crusader Lead." She fired another round, missing. The two light machine guns were chipping away at the Vertigo's armor, but the machine guns didn't have the punch nor range to keep up with the sleek craft. Not because the craft was faster than the bullet, but because she was falling behind. The Vertigo banked to the right, _Smart douche,_ she thought, _didn't go left._

But unfortunately, her squadron's leader was coming up the right side, making the move that's usually smart against common reflex a suicide one. The other two Cobras fired, hitting the engine... another hit to the fuselage later, and the Vertigo's engines simply imploded and exploded, the Vertigo giving out, the center utterly wrecked and splitting apart, and it spun down to the earth with a scream, until it split into three parts and smashed into the ground.

"_Good work, Crusader Five. Regroup; we're escaping the effective range of those Vertigos if our intelligence is correct."_

"What about the others, sir?"

_"They'll be pulling out shortly, but it's unlikely they'll join us for the main attack."_

She swallowed; so the attack on the TCN node _was_ a suicide mission... _What's so important about this damn Tacitus that we're throwing lives away to get it? We can't keep up these en masse attacks forever, even if we have a few times the manpower of GDI's puny little Blue Zones._

XXX

**Temple of Nod Central Core**

**Cairo, Egypt**

**Blue Zone (Barely)**

McCarthy nodded to Private Alicia Acosta as she gave him the shotgun, and he was only going in with his armor; he did not dare go in with a jump jet pack nor other weapons, lest the flames set their internal Tiberium power cores off. _Hell, that's a risk with this armor,_ he thought as his idea, what he once thought cunning, was now sounding more and more suicidal to him... _Good thing I took the wrist EVA unit off too, don't want to fry that._

"Shamus!" shouted Tabor, "'bout time. Henry, Shalice, Justin, switch to those flamethrowers; the rest, keep burning!"

Three of the Black Hand Disciples, not maintaining the firestorm, began switching flamethrowers; McCarthy inhaled sharply, preparing himself for what was to come. As he watched the switch of weapons, he inhaled. He mentally prepared himself, visualizing his plan... _Slide under the high-aimed torrent of flame, bring shotgun to bear and fire it the moment it's pointing at him... fire again from that position until the flames cease then get up and shoot him several more times..._

"Alright McCarthy; now or never!" Tabor shouted as the other disciples moved into position, rearranging themselves. And orange flames leapt out, aimed high... giving McCarthy the smallest amount of room to complete his insane scheme. _Here goes..._ He pulled himself over the barricade, landing and crawled forward, the shotgun in his hands. It reminded him of boot camp, when he had to crawl through thick mud with barbed wire above... in the rain thick enough to pelt his youthful hide. He repulsed those thoughts as he crawled forward... he could barely make out what was ahead; his suit was reading his body temperature... _102... aw hell..._ he snapped that down, and simply let instinct took over, and he acted. He saw feet; black shoed feet. He aimed the shotgun and fired. The flame torrent began to cease and he pumped the shotgun, aiming higher, his hands licked by the thankfully non-Purifying flames, ruining his armguards and singing the shotgun... but the damage was done; his second burst sent Seth backwards, causing him to collapse. The final wisps of flame died out as he rose, putting a foot on Seth's groin, and aiming for the chest, he took a third shot, pumped the shotgun, and took one last shot; straight to the head, the spray shredding through it, leaving blood and brains scattered onto the walkway bloodily. He exhaled sharply, relieved that it actually worked...

And collapsed as his body gave out from heat stroke.

XXXX

**TCN Node #812**

**Sinai Peninsula**

**Yellow Zone**

Aras fired another shot, the beam hitting the enemy Scorpion tank, knocking it's left tread out of position and ruining it. _Only took three direct hits;_ he thought as he ducked into cover as he let the two Avengers supporting him finish the enemy tank off, sending a spectacular explosion erupted from the enemy tank as its fuel must of been detonated.

"Enemy forces retreating." LEGION reported, "Victory is ours. Commence all post-battle operations and recovery."

Aras sighed; "All units check in."

He heard several men report in; he was missing several of the Devout and two of the Deathless... _Damn it, Henry, Alice, Warren, Pierce, Sarah, James, William... all dead._ He walked around, looking for any survivors... he reached a small dune, and walked over... and spotted an Avenger, damaged and nothing more than a wreck now... he quickly ran over, and saw someone, slumped over the hatch, as if he tried to escape...

_Not he, she_. he realized as he got close. He pulled the woman, who he now recognized as Captain Marona Farreach, gently out; he was no medic, but he knew that she had at least broken her ribs, and laid her down on her back on the sand. Then he looked back in, pulling another tank crewman, probably the driver, out and laid him next to his captain. He tapped his wrist LEGION uplink; "This is Lieutenant Aras, we need medevac at coordinate Abel-Seven-Four. Captain Farreach and one of her crewmembers are still alive; I repeat, Captain Farreach and one of her crewmembers are alive and in need of medical aid."

"Position marked, Lieutenant. Medical Carryall en route."

Aras looked to the horizon... a new day was about to begin; and just perhaps, things would get better as the sand dunes were swept with a beautiful hue of blue as the sun poked itself over the horizon...

The dead, mostly of ECG, were scattered across; several wrecked tanks, a shot down Vertigo bomber impaling itself into a dune, and many soldiers lying dead or dying. Several Nod cybernetic soldiers were moving through, checking for anyone alive. He inhaled, taking in the vista, the adrenaline beginning to ebb from him as he saw the view, even if the battles were nowhere near ending; ECG's main force was still out there.

XXX

**Temple of Nod, Cairo**

**Blue Zone**

Kane watched as Seth's body was incinerated, _I'm sorry, Seth,_ he thought, amused. Seth had tried to remove competence from his ranks, to keep GDI from being overwhelmed, and earned a bullet to the head by secretly sabotaging his plans as he intended them to play out... and yet, seventy years later, he restored himself much as he himself had done in the past. _He certainly earns the title 'father of the righteous',_ he mused, _That, at least, Earth's children have learned in their interpretations of our... 'history'._ He knew his measure was extreme, but one day, he'd let Seth recover. _Immortality has it's gifts... taking an Ion Cannon strike is no mean feat; and Seth is more in tune then I am, and this is nothing on an Ion Cannon._ He was just glad he didn't regain consciousness until he had been reformed with help from his trusted commander, the same one Seth had nearly sent on a suicide-by-USA-Military-spending mission. The fire died out at last, and only ashes would remain.

He frowned however... something of Seth's seemed to be missing... and the ashes left had vanished. _Can it be that he had an agent inside?_ he wondered, and made a note to arrange a deep check. He had a mole in here... and he suspected it had something to do with the GDI Resonator brought in... lent by Colonel James.

XXX

**Undisclosed Location**

Jacob watched as the fragment of Seth's brain, recovered in stealth by his agent, was brought in. "This is all that could be recovered?"

"Unfortunately; we were forced to do battle with him."

"Place it in that tank;" he said, gesturing to an empty one, "It will take time, but Seth will not face the same fate as Abel, nor shall he be suspended from life again."

The mere remain was placed in the tank, and it filled with liquid... although for now it simply gave Seth, what was left of him, a chance to restore himself, as Kane had done several times, he knew that Seth would not like it. But it would happen; even Kane himself, knowing how to prevent restoration, couldn't stop it forever. _Our duties bind us to eternity,_ Jacob mused, _and we gain... and suffer, for it._

He pulled up the report on GDI's heroine... Ahsoka Tano. He was outraged when he discovered her and her 'father', Rex, and knew that Kane had broken deep rules of the universe... and that had to be rectified. _A rope and drop would do fine..._ he thought, _A shame that Gideon's sniper didn't finish her off; or my hit squad in Russia a few years back... or those incompetent Blackguards..._

He thought of how to handle it; Ahsoka was far too public profile now, but he could remove Rex without so much fuss... He decided to call his agent on the GDI council, one skilled as he had evaded Kane, albeit thanks to Kane forgetting that he was, after Seth's impromptu execution, not the only one amongst the humans. This agent could lure Rex into a trap that would seem absolutely normal...

XXX

**1200 Hours**

**February 8th, 2067**

**GST **_**Methuselah**_

**Earth Orbit**

"So, how you doing?" Rex asked as Ahsoka was reading the news from the bed. He had a few minutes until the next meeting, so he decided to spend it on a quick visit.

"Good," Ahsoka answered, before putting her left hand on her right shoulder, where the hole had been bandaged and was taking it's sweet time to heal despite GDI's doctors injecting more than the usual amount of their regen shots. _Damn wish we had some effin' Bacta,_ Rex thought grimly, recalling wounds about as bad that he took after a hellish fight on Kothlis and being stuck with the Kaminoan doctors, who didn't care about them... _Come on, still on that?_ he thought to himself, then shrugged it off; _Being treated like goods to be bartered would impact anybody..._

"Still hurt?" Rex asked tactfully, putting his thoughts on medicine aside.

"Yeah," she answered, frowning, "I just want to know where Gideon's getting his hands on this kind of hardware."

"Have an answer for that, actually," Rex slipped his helmet on and with a few blinks brought up his EVA interface on it, finding the file that Kane's men had found. He had it sent to Ahsoka's EVA unit, which she was reading now (just using a different reader). She paused, switching over, and took a glance.

"So, he's home-brewing it?" she asked, "and looting caches too, I guess..."

"Correct; the base you knocked out in China was one of the centers they were training the next generation of Nod infantry."

"They're no match for zonies," Ahsoka answered with a frown, "But those snipers could do a number..."

"Agreed, but I think that's because so far we've forced them into the open. I don't want to find out what happens in tight urban combat..."

The implications were too well known; both of them had been on the end where they abused someone else's inflexibility. The Clone Wars. _We always could do a lot of damage in cover,_ he mused briefly as he remembered the 501st, the original, not the coincidence that his son was in.

Ahsoka shut the file down, and returned to what she was looking at beforehand, "Well, I'm not going anywhere soon, the doctors are getting pretty paranoid about me leaving before I'm ready."

Rex chuckled, "Never could stay in one spot, could you?"

"No, I can't. Not for weeks."

Rex paused; "True." He glanced at the clock; "I have to go, general's meeting."

"See you around, Rex."

Rex returned the nod and left, walking down the hall and taking the elevator to the next level up, and walked down the long hallway onto the bridge, where the meeting would be held over the large tactical map.

As he entered, Mitchell was there in person, as always, while the other generals were there as holograms, from their bases or GST's.

"Gentlemen," Rex said, nodding. Another hologram winked into existence; Rios. He heard Mitchell audibly sigh.

_"Generals,"_ Rios said, nodding politely, "_I trust you recived the report?"_

"_Correct, General-Secretary,"_ General Granger said, based in New York, _"To confirm which one; you refer to the shard discovered in central Africa, correct?"_

_"Correct. I've spoken with the Forgotten's liaison to the council; they're willing to assist in the recovery, but only as far as guides. We have to provide the muscle."_ Rex could hear she didn't approve of that; and frankly, he wasn't wild about it himself.

"_Granger; are your forces available?"_ Nagama asked, "_Or do you need reinforcements?"_

"_Reinforcements are always an asset, but I do not believe that..."_

EVA interupted him; **"Incoming Transmission."**

Kane appeared in a red hologram, "_Gentlemen_," he said, inclining his head. "_I have received reports of a large ECG strike force moving through the Sinai peninsula, targeting Cairo. We can defend against that force; it's the fact that Gideon has sent propagandists to Forgotten community centers in cover, sending agents of his whom are of the Forgotten. I fear he is raising more troops right under our noses."_

Rios sighed, and Rex quickly began calculating what problems would arise... _Supposedly, we need the Cairo site for reassembling the Tacitus... we can't fight a war on two fronts; if Forgotten soldiers go renegade and help Gideon, a lot of political fallout could occur... this needs to be nipped in the bud._

"General Granger," Mitchell said, "You still have good relations?"

"_I do, somewhat strained after the events that have happened over the years, but I have contacts."_

"It's probably best that we show the Forgotten now that we won't abandon them; even if technical alliance is gone. Assisting them in apprehending Gideon's agents should be a sign of good faith; so long as we work _with_ them.

_"Who do you purpose for the mission then, General?"_ Kane asked.

"I was thinking of General Granger, if there's no objections, given he has the contacts."

_"What about Rex, here?"_ Rios asked, "_He's also familiar with the Forgotten, and he's not an unknown amongst their leaders."_

McNeil cleared his throat. Rex glanced at him, and said, "While I do have contacts, I believe McNeil is best suited as he _is_ our official liaison with the Forgotten, correct?"

"_Correct._" McNeil said...

**"Incoming Transmission."**

"_Again?"_ General Locke asked, sighing.

"_Sir!_" It was Commander Louise James; "_My men have recovered a key intelligence report and I have verifying reports. Uploading now."_

The report uploaded it, Mitchell walked over to the screen Rex was at and read it with him quickly...

"_Gideon's preparing a series of attacks on the TCN?"_ Rios asked, frowning...

_"Mainly along the borders we've established at land-focused areas; South America, North America, and Europe."_ Nagama confirmed, frowning.

"_General Granger's forces are needed in North America,_" commented Riggs, frowning, "_All our other forces are tied up as well... McNeil, can you spare any RAID units to help the Forgotten in recovering the shard?"_

_"Negative,"_ McNeil responded, putting a hand on his forehead as he realized he was slotted; _"Not without compromising RAID's ability to engage these enemy strike forces where they make any headway. Too many fronts to cover."_

Rex tapped his EVA unit, bringing up a quick list... "I have several squads who can be spared," he said, "most of my forces are in bases in the northeastern seaboard anyways, but these squads are at our Madagascar base and could be spared to assist the Forgotten. I'll arrange for reassignment..."

Rios paused; "_General; this mission is too important. I would like to make arrangements for you to work with the Forgotten directly, as they respect you."_

Rex paused; he hadn't seen a field mission in a long time... _Have to get back sometime,_ he thought, realizing that he could do some good here; both help the Forgotten and complete the objective with holding the Tacitus shard.

"Agreed," Rex decided, "Unless otherwise planned, I'll join the squads in Madagascar at the rendezvous with the Forgotten guides and secure the shard until we can get it out of there."

Rios nodded, "_Thank you, General."_ The other generals agreed; Rex would have to lead this strike; and anyways, out of the group, he was the one best suited to this sort of mission because of his (comparatively) younger age and history as an infantryman.

"I have to make preparations;" Rex said, "Generals; General Secretary." The others nodded one by one, and he left. He had to get himself fitted with Zone Armor; he would of liked to wear the old 501st armor, but he knew that such sentimentality would hurt him in the field. _Good thing I practiced,_ Rex thought with amusement as he headed down to the armory; _Even though every general is technically supposed to have experience with armor, none of us ever use it. Until now._

XXX

**11 PM Local Time**

**Undisclosed Location**

**Somewhere between the Sinai Peninsula and Cairo**

Sitting in the cockpit of her Cobra, Oriana Lawson laid her head back, trying to catch some sleep while she could; it would be a rough war in the coming days. They had reached the position from where they'd strike at Cairo, and now needed to establish a proper foothold. A small team of infantry with raider buggies had been sent out to reconnoiter and establish a forward position, escorting a mobile stealth generator (MSG) which would cloak the base position once they decided on a location, and a second MSG would be used to hide the MCV they had... _Shame we only have two,_ she thought, _It's really good at keeping us concealed. If we could get more, we'd be able to sneak through territories easily. Least we can deploy some upgraded Disruption Towers._ Indeed, the Disruption Towers they had could self-cloak, a vast improvement over the previous design. She wondered for a moment how the stealth technology had lost self-cloaking for a while, between the Second and Third war...

Then she remembered the stories about how the Steel Talons had managed to wipe out some of Nod's stealth databases, what they didn't steal greedily for themselves... _They must of destroyed the information for all-purpose cloaking,_ she mused, unsure about the actual science behind it. _And so Kane had to start from scratch in that area..._

For some reason, that certain failure on Kane's part reassured her... it gave hope that Kane could indeed be fooled and _beaten._

XXX

XXX

XXX

**Author's Notes:**

**I have to apologize for the wait, but I hope it was well worth it. Rule of thumb for now, I guess, is monthly updates so I can keep the chapters this long, or shorten the chapters.**

**As mentioned previously, ECG is becoming an arsenal/faction of its own; if anyone wishes to see the (spoiler censored) notes I have, just PM me and I'll send it over. I could use some advice on fleshing them out. Essentially, they're supposed to be nostalgia... that's been designed for this era of combat; hence why basic infantry have lasers now, so they can punch through Zone armor, yet use the old TS Nod armor (which was extremely **_**badass**_**).**

**You likely noticed a... certain description of the effects of guns and weaponry. I realized I should move the fanfic to at least some semblance of realistic results of weaponry; even if I lack knowledge in the area, I'm going to aim for that.**

**The medic got shot; well, unfortunately, I realized that sure, Nod shooting a GDI medic in TS is one thing since Nod never cared about the Geneva Convention... GDI **_**does**_**. So I compromise; the Convention (if my research is right) says medics can only fight to defend their patients, and can use anything Geneva-permitted to do so, right? Well, if ECG's medics take heroic shots for the cause, if their patients aren't patients yet, they're now officially combatants, and thus GDI can shoot the medic. It's damn well not clean, but it's war, it's not **_**supposed**_** to be clean, no matter the moral standards. If it's clean, well, we've done something wrong. (Non-lethal not withstanding). ECG also uses medics because; well, think about it; they can't pull a Nod man spam anymore, so medics are basically sent out to try and extend the fighting time of every man they can. They're not going to save lives like GDI's docs can, but they can at least give a chance of recovery.**

**I take the Bible references and run with them; you can probably see that in Seth. To clarify, he was a mole in Nod trying to keep Kane from doing some shenanigans that'd stray too far from, for lack of a better term, "God's" plan. Seth, Biblically, is the father of those righteous, and was born post-Abel death. I run with it; and I know what I intend to aim for with him and 'Jacob', which is similar to the above. Seth was basically preserved the way he was to basically keep him from going 'Kane Lives' on Kane himself. Kane is genre-savvy, and dangerously so, but not invincible in that, as you saw, but to be fair, the move with the Resonator there had circles run around strictly to keep Kane distracted. Earth sure is a weirdness magnet, eh?**

**Ah, normals versus Jedi... that's a debate that's been interesting. As you can see, I like the idea of getting a shotgun to them and blowing them away with bursts of metal. Note, however, that Seth had the lightsaber he drew from hammerspace (I, personally, figure he had it concealed, but you can come up with your own explanations). I reckoned Kane wasn't the only of his kind; after all, he has to have **_**somewhere**_** to escape to with the Scrin Tower. Seth hit me as a bit more than just a greedy mole; or maybe I'm interpreting a character differently. Still, he was there to get owned in the end by a shotgun.**

**Ion Cannon strikes... you know; I often wonder how I'm supposed to write it; I mean, in theory, ECG pokes it's head up, **_**boom**_**, Ion Cannon. So ECG has access to Ion Disruption tech, which is Nod tech anyways so it's not a far cry.**

**Keeping Ahsoka on the bench for a while; oh, I'm reckoning I'll pull her down for non-combat stuff once she can move (Tacitus Shards don't move themselves!), but I think it's time I benched her for a while and let Rex come in. It's **_**Cloned**_** Tiberium, after all.**

**So yes; reviews would be appreciated as far as advice... in fact, if anyone wishes to beta-read some segments for me (possibly more, if they're willing), I'd be willing to discuss that. They say the worst editor is yourself... I think I'll see how that goes for a while. PM me with information; just keep in mind to do it requires that you be a member; just like for PMs.**

**I guess that's it. Hope you enjoyed, and sorry for the wait.**

**PS: Also reckon I'll do a "Universe at War: Earth Assault" fanfic at some point; drafting is going on; sort of similar purpose as **_**Cloned Tiberium**_**, except no crossover. Speaking of that; the original Cloned Tiberium is on backburner for now, but I'm going to pick it up now that I have this chapter done.**

**PSS: Ah; can't beleive I forgot to add this; with the new look for Ahsoka in TCW, I'm realizing that I have to draw the line since the new look makes her far too obvious in compared to the old model. Until a clear timeline is out, default any episodes that use her new look as not part of the fanfic. I'll see about drawing the line; won't mean I won't examine it to help ID the character, though, but it won't be 'canon' (or fanon, in this case)**


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